second chances
by Mina52999
Summary: Flora used to be the snobby popular girl, after suffering a terrible loss she goes back to her old school with a whole new personality. Can the Winx girls, the people she used to bully, give her a second chance. Will Helia somehow fall in love with Flora?
1. Chapter 1

**Decided to do a Flora story taken from Flora's point of view. Tell me what you think! Happy reading!**

Yet another day of my fabulous life. I don't mean to sound haughty or anything it's just, I am really happy with my life! I am one of the most popular girls in school! Why would anybody hate me? I'm perfect.  
>I finished ironing out my blonde bangs, perfecting my hair. I would wear make up like Katy and Taylor, but Mom won't let me! She says I'm too young! Sometimes mom really just drives me crazy, you know? Like seriously woman, it's my life, not yours! I checked myself out in the mirror. There I was Flora Linphea. Today I decided to wear tight skinny jeans, plane white t-shirt with a super cute scarf with knit UGG boots and hoop earrings. To finish of the look I put on my black leather jacket, so cute! I took my messenger bag, throwing it over my shoulder. Gotta look sexy for the boys! Oh man do I wish that Helia would ask me out! He is so hot, and on the football team making him automatically popular! I left my bedroom, biggest one of course. I convinced my mom to switch with me after Dad left. She doesn't need any bigger room than any of us considering it's just her in there. My mom says that my Dad had left because they had other "differences". Seriously mom? I'm 14 not 4, we all know that means he had sex with another woman and my mom kicked him out. He cheated on my mom? Well good riddance to that piece of scum. I went down to the kitchen where my mom sat down at the kitchen table with her coffee, writing something down on a paper. My 5 year old sister, Rose, sat chewing on bacon and drawing in her coloring book. She is such a pest!<br>"Good morning Flora" my mom said cheerily  
>"Morning, hey do we have any of that organic cereal?" I asked<br>"We have bacon and sausages" my mom said  
>"Do we have any of those healthy morning breakfast bars?" I asked<br>"We have bacon, and sausages" my mom repeated with a giggle  
>"augghhhh! Mom! You know I'm on a diet! I reminded you yesterday to pick me up my healthy cereals! Now I'll never be as skinny as Katy" I said angrily<br>"Sweety, you're perfect the way you are, in act I just got your doctor's overview back. You're under weight, he said you should be taking in more calories than you do now" my mom said sadly  
>"mom" I whined<br>"Flora, you're a tooth pick, stop worrying about it, we don't want this to end in anorexia, I just thought that bacon and sausages would make a nice treat" my mom said  
>"Why are we celebrating? What's with the treat?" I asked<p>

My mom started to tear up, tears going down her face.

"Nothing, is it so wrong for a mother to give a treat to her daughter? I just thought it would be so great" My mom said covering her mouth, letting more tears go

"Woah mom, I didn't mean to make you cry! I just want you to think next time mom, you never think" I told her angrily  
>"I'm sorry Flora...ouch!" my mom's hand immediately tore away from her cup of coffee making it crash and sending her hand to her chest.<p>

"Mommy!" Rose squealed jumping up on her chair  
>"Mom? You okay?" I asked calmly crossing my arms<br>"yeah sweety..." cough. " don't worry about me, go outside Taylor's mom is here for you" my mom said

"Mommy, do you want me to call grandma?" Rose asked cutely

Kiss up!  
>I ran to the front, hearing my mom coughing more, then slammed the door behind me.<br>"hey girly!" Katy said from inside the window of Taylor's mom LEXUS car  
>"hot outfit, that'll make Helia have the hots for you for sure" Taylor said<br>"thanks!" I said flipping my hair back  
>I got in the car, crossing my legs and putting my bag on the floor.<p>

"Hey did you remember to bring your iPod so we can blast it in the cafeteria?" Taylor asked  
>"shit, I forgot" I said smacking my head<br>"Bitch! Now we're gonna have no music to dance with, thanks a bunch" Katy said sounding annoyed  
>"sorry Kate" I said using her nickname<br>"save it, I think I brought mine" Taylor said reaching into her bag  
>"Yup" She said holding up her iPod touch<br>"Thank god! I know I can always count on Tay Tay" Katy said putting her arm around Taylor  
>I put my head down, turning red. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! How could you be so stupid Flora.<br>"So I heard Brandon just broke up with Stacy, making him totally available now" I told Katy nudging her playfully as we got out of the car  
>Katy giggled, I guess I won her back! Yes!<br>"I know, I heard Stella Solaria has a crush on him, what a loser" Katy said  
>"Yeah, but she is kind of pretty I guess, and man is her family loaded" I said<br>"Are you kidding? Try blonde hair die, nose job, and contacts, her clothes are okay, and as for that money of hers, I got waaaaayyyyy more" she said  
>"Really?" I asked<br>"That's what I heard, and it's super obvious" Katy said  
>We walked over to our lockers which were all next to each other.<br>"Taylor's good with her boyfriend right?" Katy said  
>"Oh yeah, me and Sky are so meant to be forever, now if only we could get Helia and Flora together" Taylor said<br>"I already called dibs!"Katy said  
>"But you called dibs on Brandon...and Riven...and now that I think about it Nabu too... Basically the whole football team" I said<br>"Get over it Biotch, dibs is dibs" she said  
>Here I go, yet another day of 8th grade. In only a matter of months I'll officially be in high school, so exciting! I'll finally get to experience all of those magical moments! Going on dates with the guy of your dreams(Hopefully Helia!) having sex for the first time, going to prom!<br>As we walked to first period I noticed the banner hanging up across the hallway.  
>"Hey guys, spring dance soon" I said with a giggle<br>"Like we didn't already know that" Taylor said  
>"we should go get dresses together" I said excitedly<br>"Look Flora, you're our friend and all but you're kind of poor, you really can't afford to be shopping with us" Katy said as we parted going to separate home rooms.

Okay, ouch. That burned.  
>I entered the room looking around... Hmmm... Empty seat next to Helia. This could be my chance!<br>"Hi Helia, anyone sitting?" I asked putting on my flirty face  
>"Nope, feel free to sit down" he said emotionlessly flipping through the pages of some novel he was reading, looked really long, waaaaaaayyyyyy to long for my brain.<br>"So" I said  
>"So" he said back emotionlessly not taking his eyes of the book, how mysteries. He put his book down.<br>"Look, obviously you have something to say so just say it" he said straight out  
>"Okay...do you...want to go to the dance with me?" I asked batting my eyelashes a bit<br>"look, Flora, your pretty and all but I'm going to have to say no" he said with sympathy in his voice. Sympathy? For me!  
>"Can I ask why, I just don't understand why, you just called me pretty?" I said feeling a little hurt<br>"Because Flora, sometimes outer appearance, is not what I'm looking for" he said giving me a shrug and a small grin to try and lift my spirits

"I'm really sorry" He said getting up and moving to sit with Nabu, a guy I recognized from the football team.  
>My mouth shot open, unable to move. This has been one of the worst days of my life!<br>Later that day after I changed out of my Cheerleading uniform, because I had just come back from Cheerleading practice, I was walking with Katy and Taylor ready to go home. "That was a really awesome practice today!" Taylor said happily

"I know! That triple flip I did that I ended in a slip was totally perfect" I said, gloating a bit

"Oh get over yourself, it was my cartwheel that pulled it all together" Katy snapped

Truth is, me and Taylor were really awesome gymnasts, Katy, not so much. She can barely do a cartwheel. The only reason she's on the team is because the captain, Taylor, was too afraid of her to say anything.

Suddenly, somebody slammed right into me! This so isn't my day!  
>I bounced straight to the ground, really hurting my arm.<br>"hey! watch where your going fatty! You almost hurt Flora!" Taylor screamed  
>I saw a short girl with brown curly hair, pink rounded glasses, tan skin, very round, and by round we all know I mean fat!<br>"My name isn't fatty, my name is Layla" she said unafraid  
>"Layla!" 5 girls screamed running around her trying to help her<br>"are you okay?" a girl with red fiery hair screamed. As far as I can see, she's really pretty. I recognized her as Bloom Sparks.  
>"Do you need to go to the nurse!" a girl with blonde hair asked. Stella Solaria<br>"let me help you up" a girl with dark blue almost black hair said. Musa Melody, now this girl could spin some tunes!  
>"Yeah, take my hand" another girl said. She had short purple hair. Nobody actually knows how it got purple, some say she died it, some say it was because of a messed up experiment. Tecna Zenith<br>It looked like they all really cared about each other, and for that moment I did kind of feel a little jealous, a little!

"Flora! Get up already, it looks like we're hanging out with them! " Katy murmured under her breath  
>"Help me up" I said holding out my hands<br>"you have 2 feet, now hurry up" Taylor hissed  
>I quickly got up brushing myself of.<br>"Seriously Layla, next time watch where your fat bounces" I said giving her the evil eye  
>"back off, do you find joy out of bullying people?" Musa asked me stepping up and looking very determined<br>"I...I... Just watch where your going.." I said turning on my heels  
>"by the way Stella, UGG shoes, fake" I said pointing down at her feet<br>With that I left them, feeling much better about my crappy day.

Katy and Taylor started cracking up.

"Good one!" Katy said

As I left the building I turned around, looking back at the girls. I saw Helia, reaching down to help Layla up. The rest of the football team stood behind him checking out the girls. I saw some heads nod up at them, making them go red. I looked down, that should be me he's helping up.

Katy's mom dropped me off at home. When I got to the door I rung the bell. I waited, and waited, but still no answer.

"Augghhhh! Mom! You're so lazy!" I screamed taking my bobby pin out of my hair and picking the lock.

"Mom!" I screamed when I got in

No answer. This is so like her! It made me so angry that she wasn't here to open the door for me on one of the worst days I've had, in my entire life!

I threw my bag off going to the kitchen looking around for something to eat. I opened the fridge to see if we had any apples to eat. I took it out, taking a bite out of. I shut the fridge, then as I closed the door to the fridge I noticed something on the fridge with my name on it.

"Hmm…maybe it's money from my mom! Things may be looking up for me after all!" I screamed happily opening up the letter. I took the piece of paper, shaking it out….no money. Shit. Looks like the paper my mom was writing on this morning. I started reading it.

My dearest Flora,

You looked so beautiful today, that's how I want to remember you forever. You see, this is the last day I will be able to see that beautiful face of yours, your long luscious hair, your crisp green eyes. The last time I will see Rose, my baby. I have been suering from lung cancer since I was 17. I've been fighting it for way to long now. A few weeks ago the doctor told me I only had 3 weeks to live. I couldn't believe this. Today is the day of my death. I am so very sorry sweet heart" I read

I couldn't finish the letter, tears were streaming down my face. I dropped my apple, letting it roll on the floor. I held onto the fridge handle for support, getting down on my knees. I continued reading.

"I am leaving you all of the money I have been saving for when this day would come. I have 1.3 million dollars saved in my bank account, it is free for you to use so use it as you please. I will miss you and your sister so very much. Break this to Rose lightly please. I'm sorry this had to happen, goodbye.

Love, forever and always,

Your mother

I burst down in tears, not just tears but sobs. I started breathing heavily. Sobbing harder and harder and harder.

**Tell me what you think. If you didn't like it I highly advise you to read the next chapter, then decide if you like it or not. If you did like it, you are officially awesome! Lol, everybody here is awesome just for visiting this website. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I got a lot of positive reviews, thanks a lot guys! **

**Chapter 2(Last chapter was just an epilogue)**

It's been 3 years since my mother's death. Her story was printed in the local paper. My mother was diagnosed with lung cancer because she smoked when she was in high school. She was treated while Rose and I had been born. When my father left, she did what she had sworn never to do, she began smoking again. Her lung cancer had returned, only stronger this time around. The whole town had attended her funeral to pay their respects. People gave us money out of pity, but I didn't accept it with all the money my mom had already left or me and my sister. I cried for months, my voice only becoming smaller and smaller. Rose never did quite understand that Mom was gone. Rose, only just turning 5, had thought that Mom was only going on a vacation, like Dad had done for years. Even being 7 now she thought she was only on vacation.

After the death of my Mom, child services had come to take us to our Dad's house in LA. At first I just downright ignored him, as I sooner got used to it, although it did take some time, things got better. Rose of course adored him, but that's just Rose being Rose, a friendly little girl. As time went on my voice got softer, my nerves stronger, my personality just a little bit scared. Since the day I had read that letter in my kitchen, I had been traumatized. It's not even the fact that my Mom died that traumatized me; it's the fact that I had been so cruel to her. I will always remember the last words I had said to her,

" You never think Mom! You never think!"

I screamed at her with rage over a few measly pieces of bacon. The worse part of it all, there had been a sentence in my Mom's will, and that sentence had really stung me in the soul. My mom wrote, "I would like to leave my daughter, Flora Linphea, all the money I have been saving for years. Please my darling, use it wisely. My beautiful daughter, I hope one day you can see how beautiful you truly are." My mother had written. Those words, those small little words meant so much to me. Just remembering that day, when she told me I may have anorexia by the rate I'm going. Since then I have never ever believed in diets, or food portioning, I eat what I want, when I want. In fact I try to eat as much calories as I could now because I refuse to get anorexic, my Mom wouldn't want that, she told me herself.

A few tears glistened down my small tan face. There I stood, 17 year old Flora, a completely different person. I had grown a few inches, still making me the shortest girl in the grade. I had grown my hair out, which I refuse to iron or put any product in. Something I learned during my time here in LA, those hair products I used to absolutely positively need, are slowly killing the environment. I had quit cheer leading a short time after I moved here. I don't want my body to be exposed like I used to have it in those belly shirts and short skirts. My eyes were still that green they were 3 years ago. My body structure was still very small.

"Flora, which tie do you think is better for a meeting" My father called running down the stairs

I quickly wiped at my eyes using the sleeves of my yellow sweater

"Let's see, definitely the green one" I said pointing to the one on his left

"Thanks Flora…is that muffins I smell?" My dad asked sniffing

"Sure is, I made toast, omelets, and blueberry muffins, your favorite!" I said cheerily with a giggle

"Thanks sweety, but you know what I really have to go" My Dad said sadly

"That's alright, good luck" I said giving him a kiss on the cheek

"I'm hoping for that promotion!" He called as the door slammed

After returning from school, I went home to make some dinner, the usual. I always make dinner because my Dad was never home early enough. To my surprise, when I got home…..my dad was home too…and I smelled Chinese food.

"Dad?" I called confused

"Flora! I decided to pick up this magnificent feast because I have great news!" My Dad said literally lifting me up in joy

"What?" I asked with a smile

"I got the promotion!" He screamed

"What? Oh my gosh! Congratulations!" I screamed throwing my arms around him

"Hey, what about me?" Rose said squeezing between our legs

"Come here Rosey!" My Dad said lifting her up into a hug

I laughed as we all sat down at the table.

"I am very excited for this job! It'll provide us with a bigger house, more money, and we get to live in New York! Could you believe this Flora? New York City! The Big Apple!" My dad screamed

I paused

"New York?" I asked gently

"Yes! Isn't that exciting!" My dad screamed

"Of course it is but….we've always lived in California, and it was kind of convenient to go see Grandma and Grandpa….and Mom.." I said softly

"Flora! We can go and see them whenever we can, I promise" My dad said placing his hand on mine

I thought about it for a second the looked down.

"Daddy, you know that I love you very much…but I wont leave Mom…I'm sorry" I whispered

"Flora, you don't want to move to New York?" My dad asked sounding sad

"Dad, it's not that I don't want to live with you. I adore you. You're a lovely person, it's just…..I wont leave California. This is where Mom is, and wherever Mom is I have to stay" I said

"So what do you want me to do Flora?" He asked

"Dad, why don't I go back to San Francisco with Rose and stay with Grandma and Grandpa? You can go to New York for your job….and you can come visit us during the holidays and whenever you can…." I said nervously, hoping not to make him angry

"I guess that can be arranged…." My dad said surprising me

"Really? Thank you Dad!" I screamed happily

**I know it's a short chapter, so I'm going to try to post another one, I just kind of needed this chapter as an opening to the rest.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As I drove back into my old town, so many memories flooded my mind, some happy, but some sad. I guess I really hadn't thought my plan through. I have to go back to my old school now, and face all of the kids that I put down, or made fun of. Come on Flora, keep a good attitude. At least there are some beautiful flowers and trees around here, and maybe I'll find some kind of a forest to read in…or explore the nature! That might be fun!

"Oh girls! I am just so excited to have you be staying over by us!" My grandma said from the driver's seat

I giggled as Rose nodded her head vigorously

"Me too! Me too!" Rose said

"I already enrolled you both in school" My grandma said

"Thank you very much….but actually I was thinking of sending Rose to that school for the gifted and talented kids in education" I told her

"That's great! Did she get accepted?" My grandma asked

"Yes, I even already sent in the money for the rest of the year" I told her

"How did you afford that?" My grandma asked

"I used some of the money mom had gave me" I told her

Once I got to my grandparents house I went toward the 2 guest rooms. I gave Rose the big one because she had way more things than me. I helped her get settled in, then moved onto mine. Maybe I'll paint Rose's room pink? That could be fun! Grandma did say we could do whatever we wanted with our rooms. I settled myself into my own room, placing all of my clothes in my drawers and a few in the closet. I placed all of my thousands of books on the shelves. Since I had left this town, I found a new love in reading! It really calms me and I just feel so happy while reading. It's like I am put into another world filled with adventures, friendships and…..love. I love romance novels. I am such a hopeless romantic.

I put my laptop on my new desk, along with a bottle of hand sanitizer, and some flowers.

"Perfect" I said looking around

I decided to take a shower in my new bathroom that was inside of my room. Tomorrow was going to be a long day!

I woke up especially early, hoping to do something really nice for my grandparents for taking us in. I decided to make them a nice breakfast that included bagels, juice, coffee, whole made muffins and croissants, cereal, and oatmeal.

"My word Flora, we're 5 people not 50" My grandpa said coming down the stairs

I giggled giving him a kiss

"I'll take that as a compliment, I hope you like it" I said

"Oh I can definitely get used to this" My Grandpa said

"I'll get Rose up" My grandma said

"Please Grandma, sit and enjoy, I'll go get her up, then I'll take her to school" I said sitting her down

"Thank you dear. What would you prefer I prepare for dinner?" My Grandma asked

"Anything that's comfortable with you. I'll make it if you want" I said

"No, no, Flora, you've already done enough" My Grandma said with a chuckle

I gave her a smile then I hopped up the stairs, turning the corner going toward Rose's room.

"Rosey, time to wake up" I said knocking on her door

"I'm already up" She called

"Oh good, do you have your uniform on?" I asked

"Uh huh" She said

I opened the door to find her all dressed in her new uniform. She wore a blue plaid skirt, a blue blouse, ankle socks, and her cute little converse. Rose was a very petite girl, smaller than the rest in her grade, but then again, so am I.

"Good job! You still need your sweater though, it's a little cold out" I said digging out her navy sweater

"Why do I have to wear a uniform and you don't?" Rose asked me curiously

I opened up the sweater as she put her arms in, one at a time.

"Because sweety, I send you to a private school and you need to follow their rules" I said

"Why do you send me to a private school?" She asked

"So you can get a good education" I replied

Actually, that's the only thing I had actually spent Mom's money on, and yet I still haven't made a dent in it. Mom left me so much money, I didn't know what to do with it at first. I have decided to put it toward Rose's education. College costs money.

"Ohhhhhh! I want to be as smart as you when I grow up, and as pretty" She said pointing to my floral dress. Today I had worn a white summer dress that had spaghetti straps and went over my knees. Towards the middle of the dress there was a crease, then ruffles came out. I had on a long sleeve yellow sweater that went down to around my waist because I thought it was a bit to revealing on the top. I was wearing white flats and my hair was left as it was, letting my natural curls flow.

"That's very sweet of you to say Rosey" I said with a giggle

"How should we put your hair today?" I asked

"Mmm…..pigtails!" She said jumping up

I put her curly blonde hair into 2 pony tails that she placed in the front of her head. I had added ribbons to hold them into place.

"Thanks Flora" She said

She is so cute! Especially when she runs, her blonde curls bounce up and down.

I picked her up and brought her down stairs where everyone was eating breakfast. I prepared cocoa puffs in a bowl for her adding milk and setting it down in front of her.

"Sit Flora, eat" My grandma said offering me a piece of her bagel

"Thank you" I said taking it and adding butter. I ate a bowl of cereal as well and a muffin. I looked at my watch, 8:45. Rose's school starts at 9 and my school starts at 9:15, better get going.

"Come Rose, don't wanna be late" I said

She nodded getting off her chair.

"Bye girls" Grandma said

"Bye grandma, see you later" I said waving

"Bye bye" Rose said giving Grandma a kiss on the cheek.

I put my pink Jansport backpack on my back and Rose put her tiny little Strawberry Shortcake backpack on. I took her hand and shut the door behind us.

"So, first day of school, are you nervous?" I asked

"Nope! I'm ready for 1st grade!" She said happily

"Good! Now how about we practice your spelling, spell….. cat" I told her

"Okay! Hmm…..C- A….T?" She said slowly

"Yes!" I screamed swinging her up from her waist and holding her on my hip

"High five Rosey!" I said holding out my hand

Rose slapped my hand with a giggle.

That's Rose, my little genius. She can already pretty much read a chapter book, and is starting to spell. She knows basic math like addition and subtraction, and she even talks pretty well with good vocabulary for her age. I'm very happy she's going to be interacting with kids like her.

There it was, Hermon Academy For the Gifted and Talented. It was a small building, but it was still very fancy. I took Rose inside and went up to the front desk.

"Hi, where can I find the 1st grade class?" I asked the women

"Room 205, a new student?" The girl at the front asked

She had red hair and small glasses on her face. She looked young, maybe 20. She was dressed pretty normally.

"Yes, this is Rose" I said

Rose waved giving her a smile.

"You are so cute!" The girl said

"Thank you" Rose replied

Yes! She's using her manners! Thank goodness!

"Come, I'll show you the way, you're going to love Ms. Hudson" She told Rose guiding us toward her classroom.

I walked in looking around. There were dozens of kids scattered around, girls and boys, all dressed in the uniform.

"Hello, you must be Rose" A women said coming over to us. She had on a long blue skirt and a white sweater.

"Yup, and you must be Ms. Hudson" I said

"Are you her sister?" Ms. Hudson asked

"Yes, I'll be the one responsible for her so if anything happens to her please call me" I said putting her down and letting her go play with some students

"Of course, listen, I already told the class about your situation with your mother so I told them not to say anything about her mother" Ms. Hudson said

"That's great. Thank you very much. It actually hasn't been really hard on Rose, she thinks our mother left on a vacation" I told her

"Oh gosh, poor girl" Ms. Hudson said

"Just remember that you can call me whenever, my phone is always going to be on" I said

"Alright" She said

I looked over to where Rose was. Rose was playing in the corner with a little girl that had dark, dark blue almost black hair that was pulled up into a ponytale. She had a very pretty face, a little bit tan. I don't know how Rose makes friends so fast.

Ms. Hudson clapped her hands

"Class! We have a new student joining us for the rest of this year. Rose stand up and introduce your self" Ms. Hudson told Rose with an encouraging smile

Rose stood up

"Hi everyone! I'm Rose! I'm 7!" She screamed

I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. I put my hand over my mouth to shut myself up.

"Hi Rose!" The students screamed back

"Now let's assign you a buddy lets see…." Ms. Hudson said

"Ooo! Ooo! Me Ms. Hudson! Pretty please!" The little girl that was playing with Rose squealed putting her hand up and almost jumping in excitement

"Okay, Jamie you can be her buddy" Ms. Hudson said

Jamie gave Rose a high five.

I smiled. Why was I even nervous! Rose is going to have a great time!

"Okay, I'm just gonna go say bye to Rose then I'll be off" I said

I walked over to Rose.

"Jamie! Jamie! This is my sister, Flora!" Rose said pointing to me

"Wooooooooow! You're pretty!" Jamie said smiling

I couldn't help but laugh

"Thanks" I said

"Maybe you and my brother can get married and then me and Rose will be sisters" She said

I burst out laughing

"Of course, why not" I said going along with it

"Yay!" Jamie and Rose said hugging each other and jumping up and down

"Bye Rosey, give me a kiss goodbye" I said pointing to my cheek

Rose gave me a big slobbery kiss.

"I'll be back later for you" I said

I started walking down the street, taking my time and taking in the fresh air. I actually love it here! There is so much wildlife here. There are so many colors around you, and the sun is always beating! The perfect place to live.

I checked my watch, 9:25. Oh no! I must have spent too much time at Rose's school!

I began running as fast as I could. Being small does have its perks, I'm pretty fast. I ran faster and faster checking my watch. Oh no, I'm not going to make it! This so doesn't look good on a report card, being late on your first day! I finally made it to the building. I ran through the parking lot, trying to dodge the cars. I reached the stairs leading to the entrance. There were a lot of people going up and down so I decided to play it safe. I got on the railing and slid down sideways. I got inside still running making people look at who it was. People began doing double takes.

"Oh my gosh, it's Flora" I heard some people murmur. I saw some people back away in fright. Great, they're scared of me.

I finally reached the office just as the bell went off.

"Yes!" I said smiling to myself

I went to the girl at the front.

"Hello, my name is Flora Linphea, I am a new student here" I said

"Welcome back Flora, we're happy to have you again" The lady said with a friendly smile

"Thank you, do you know where I can get my schedule?" I asked

"Yes, go in there, the Principle wants to have a conversation with you then he'll give you your schedule" She said

I nodded going toward the principle's door that had a golden plaque on the front of it reading, Mr. Monroe. I knocked lightly.

"Come in" I heard

I walked in silently shutting the door behind me

"Hello" I said giving him a smile

"Yes, Flora Linphea, please take a seat" He said motioning toward the chair in front of him

I sat down putting my backpack in front of me and sitting up straight.

"Flora, we are very happy to have you with us again" He said giving me a smile

"Thank you" I said

"However, I am still familiar with the affairs you used to get into" He said

"Mr. Monroe, you have to understand, I have changed since then. I regret the things I did. That's one main reason I have come back, to fix things. There are so many things I wish I hadn't done" I explained

"Well, there is a big change in your report card grades I see" He said looking at my report cards from when I was in a different school

"Alright Flora, I'll tell you what. I'm willing to put all of that behind us, a fresh start. But, let me make something clear. 3 chances, that's all you have. 3 slip ups and I'm sending you back" He said

"Thank you sir, I promise I won't let you down" I said with a smile

He handed me my schedule. I got up to leave.

I went out into the hallways that were now bare because all the kids have already gone to their homerooms.

I checked my schedule. On the top it said locker 384. Combination 12-4- 4. That's easy to remember, that's Rose's birthday, December 4, 2004! Looks like my luck is already starting to look good! I opened up my locker and put in my shelves. Then I put in a few of my notebooks I won't need till after lunch. I put my backpack on then began walking to my homeroom. Let's see, History with Ms. Grizelda. I lightly knocked on the door. I saw a few people look towards the door, their eyes widen, then whisper something to the person beside them. I looked down starting to feel a little bit nervous.

Grizelda came to open the door for me.

"Hi" I said in my soft voice

"Class! Our new student Flora has arrived, I'm sure most of you know her" Grizelda said

Everybody was staring at me. I felt a blush come to my face.

"Okay, who has an open seat that Flora can sit in?" Grizelda asked

I looked around and there were a few open seats, but nobody raised their hand. I shut my eyes and swallowed down. Positive Flora, stay positive.

"Ms. Stella I see there is a seat next to you, Flora you may go sit next to Stella"

"But Ms. Grizelda! That's Bloom's seat!" Stella argued

"Well is Bloom here right now? It appears she's late for school, you 3 will just have to sit together" Grizelda replied lifting her glasses up higher

"But Ms….."

"No buts! Flora, go ahead" Grizelda said giving me a little push

I could tell she was a bit on the tougher side. Stella gave me a look then crossed her arms. I swallowed biting my lip. I have a confession, Stella Solaria officially scares me.

I sat down putting my stuff down. I took out my notebook and a pencil. I felt people staring at me. I felt my bangs move down hiding my face a little bit.

"Okay, now where were we….oh yes, we were talking about Pocahontas" Grizelda said

I read the top of the board, "People in American History"

"Who knows what happened involving Pocahontas" Grizelda asked

Nobody raised their hands. I was debating in my head if I should or not.

"I just taught it to you yesterday, I swear it's like you guys only hear every other word I say" Grizelda said

Everyone remained silent

"Helia, what about you? You're one of my best students" Grizelda said in an almost pleading way.

Oh no, why does that name sound so familiar.

"Hmm?" I slowly turned my head to the side looking at him. He looked up from his notebook. Suddenly I saw it, why he looked and sounded so familiar. His perfect dark blue, almost black hair. That bang that goes almost over his eyes. His gorgeous blue eyes to match. I swallowed. It's him! Helia! I…I…I asked him out….and he declined! I remember the moment as if it were yesterday. It was the same day that my Mom died…..

"Helia, pay attention" Grizelda begged

I heard a groan from beside me.

"Oh come on people! Have none of you seen the movie! It's about that Indian chick that falls in love with that guy but she's already engaged so they can't get married. Her father doesn't want them to be together but they ended up together anyways, duh!" Stella said calmly

My hand slowly began to get higher and higher.

"Yes Flora?" Ms. Grizelda

"Um, actually, some of Stella's facts are false. You see the Virginia Company hadn't docked till 1607 while Pocahontas was still a young girl. John Smith was a grown man at the time. Pocahontas and John Smith were only thrown together in a conflict because Pocahontas had saved John Smith. There was actually no romantic tension between the two, Walt Disney just wanted to turn it into a romance as it is more appropriate for young audiences," I stated in a soft tone

Everybody paused and stared at me.

"But Stella's answer was still pretty accurate" I said trying to ease the tension

"You are correct Flora, thank you" Grizelda said taking a breathe

Stella gave me a look. Why Flora, why did you have to do that! Why couldn't you just keep your mouth shut!

"I..I'm sorry" I whispered to Stella

"Save it, I didn't want your pity 3 years ago and I absolutely don't want it now so you can cut the crap Flora, I can see through your little act" Stella whispered back sounding angry. Can you blame her? I basically ruined her whole childhood

I shut my eyes tightly feeling a small tear roll down my left eye. I held in the rest I so dearly wanted to let out.

I began writing down notes quietly, trying to pretend I wasn't there. The bell finally rang, thank god! Next period was math, one of my favorite subjects! Maybe that can lift my spirit! I walked out looking around. I recognized almost every face. Wow, Stella looks great since the last time I saw her. She got taller, a lot taller. She had a very nice body, unlike some people. Hint, hint, me.

I got to my classroom and looked around. I saw a few familiar faces. Let's see, I see Tecna, the purple haired girl. I used to tell people she was an alien. Oh dear God Flora, where do you come up with these things! I saw Timmy, used to call him Tecnonerd, I used to tell him he was a new kind of nerd unknown to science. I also saw Helia…great.

"Flora? If you're looking for low class math it's down the hall, this is high honors math" Tecna said

She also looked really pretty since I lasts aw her. In act, she was holding Timmy's hand, meaning she had a boyfriend now.

I blushed then took a seat in the second row. I got out my math note book and my math textbook.

"Good morning class! We have a new student, Flora. We have no time for introductions if we want to get as much information in as possible before the Math Bowl." Mr. Wizgiz said coming in

"Math Bowl?" I asked confused

I heard a groan

"If you're going to be in our class at least try to keep up! The Math Bowl is a competition we're entering" Tecna said

"Oh, thanks" I said giving her a small smile

She gave me a sarcastic smile, then she and Timmy laughed. Just breathe through it. Only one more period then lunch, then 4 more periods. Then I can go and get Rose, and just go home.

After class I checked my schedule, science. I walked in and looked around to see who was in my class. I saw Bloom, the red head. I saw somebody had their arm around her, Sky, as in Sky from the football team. Hmm….that's weird. I guess they're going out now. I also saw Musa, the one I was most afraid of. I remember she did have quite a temper. I saw Riven, another football player, with his arm around her. Well now I can see a match, 2 people that both had temper problems. They did look really good together. Next to them was Brandon. He was sitting on a lab stool laughing at something Musa had said. I turned to the side and saw Helia with them. He had also started laughing. Just my luck, another class with Helia.

"Hey! Check it out Bloom! It's Flora!" Musa screamed on the top of her lungs

I ignored them and sat down.

"Oh yeah! The whole school's talking about it! Bitch back in town" Bloom said really loud

They all started laughing. I let a few tears go.

"Alright class, time to start!" The teacher said coming in.

"Excuse me, can I go to the nurse? I'm not feeling well" I said trying to keep my voice steady

"Yes…oh you're the new transfer student. Alright, just let me write you up a note" She said writing me a note

I turned to take it noticing Musa mouth something to me, Bitch.

I bit my lip, only a few more seconds, that's all I have to hold it in for. I quickly walked out. As I walked through the empty hallways tears just started to stream down uncontrollably. I couldn't stop no matter how much I tried. I wiped away some of my tears with the sleeve of my sweater. I had so many tears in my eyes I couldn't see. I accidentally ran into somebody. She had dark skin, long curly brown hair, and a very thin body. She gasp looking at my face then took a step back in fright. She was scared of me.

"I..I..I'm sorry!" I screamed putting my hand on top of my mouth. I quickly ran away into the girl's bathroom to hide myself.

"Wait! Flora!" She screamed after me. I didn't turn around to see who she was, or what she wanted. I just had to get away. I went toward the sinks and just held onto the granite for support. I started to sob really hard, heaving in and out. I slowly began to go down to the floor, still holding onto the granite. I pressed my face against the cool granite sniffling. I had my eyes shut and I was softly banging my head on the granite. I'm a monster.

I just sat there for 45 minutes until I realized science was over and it was time for lunch. I can't miss lunch, I have to eat. I can't not eat. I got up wiping away the last of my tears and picking up my bag.

"God be with me" I prayed as I left the bathroom

My eyes were red and my face was all blotchy. I tried to cover my face with my hair as much as I could. I walked through the halls silently toward the Cafeteria. I walked in and got online, looking around at the different lunch tables. You could perfectly see who's supposedly "cool" and who's not. I saw Bloom and her group of friends sitting with their I guess boyfriends along with Helia. The rest of the football players sat with the cheerleaders. I looked over to them and saw 2 people I did not want to see. Katy and Taylor, my 2 so called "best friends"

I quickly looked up at the menu. I finally reached the front of the lunch line.

"Welcome back Flora, do you want your usual, I think I remember it from last time you were here. Salad and chicken?" The lunch lady said

"That's very thoughtful of you for remembering, but I'm actually a vegetarian now." I said

"So just a plain salad?" She asked

"No thank you, can I have the macaroni and cheese with an apple and Lipton ice tea please?" I asked

"Of course dear" She said handing me my food.

"Thank you" I said handing her money.

"Get your tea from over there" She said pointing to a big ice box.

I nodded giving her a smile then walked over to the ice box. I dug through the various drinks finally finding what I was looking for. Unfortunately, as I grabbed the top somebody else grabbed the back.

"Sorry, you can have it" I said looking up

Oh dear god, Helia Knightly.

He sighed.

"Just take it" He said in an annoyed way.

"Sorry" I said

"Whatever" He said taking a different bottle.

"Thank you" I said

"Whatever" He said

I looked around the Cafeteria thinking about where I should sit. I sighed looking out the window. I am never going to be accepted here am I? I went toward the open window putting my bag through and throwing my lunch in after it. I slid myself outside. I had a feeling people were watching me wondering what I was doing. I picked up my stuff and went out toward a big oak tree. I sat down and opened up my macaroni and cheese container. I began putting the hot pasta into my mouth, chewing slowly as I looked at a group of lilies that were all clustered together. A few feet away stood one lilly flower, all alone. I picked up the flower taking in it's sweet aroma.

"I know how you feel little flower, believe me, I do" I said


	4. Chapter 4

**While I was writing the last chapter I literally started to cry toward the end because the part where she was in the bathroom, and alone outside, that happened to me. It happened to me in 7th grade. That was before I met my 4 best friends. I have to say, they really saved me. I love you guys!**

**Chapter 4**

After lunch I went to my next period class, gym! Yes! I love gym!

I got my stuff and swung my legs into the window again. I went towards the girl's locker room. When I got in there I saw a few girls I kind of recognized. I saw Bloom, Stella, Musa, Tecna, and another girl they were talking to. I didn't really recognize her though. Oh great, the whole group that hates me. I also saw Katy and Taylor in the corner.

"Hey Flora, long time no see…what are you wearing?" Katy said coming up to us

"A dress" I replied confused

"Take the sweater off and tighten it girl, what have they done to you over in LA. Don't worry though, we'll fix that. You can come shopping with us" Katy said

"Yeah! We heard when your mom died she left you tons of money" Taylor said

"Thank you, but it's alright. I kind o like the way I dress" I said playing with the hem of my dress.

"Right well…..see ya around" Katy said pulling Taylor away

"You know we can't hang out with her like that, right?" I heard Katy whisper

"Hell yeah, just thinking the same thing" Taylor said

Gym just went from sweet to terrible in like 30 seconds. I shook my head with a sigh. I changed into the white shorts and yellow shirt we were required to weir during gym. The shirt was very baggy on me. I put my hair into 2 pony tales.

"Hey Flora, lonely lunch?" Stella taunted as they walked passed me

I ignored her.

I walked out into the Gym before all of the other girls and began stretching. I looked around at all the guys around me. Sky, Brandon, Timmy, Nabu, Riven, and oh for the love of god! None other than Helia Knightly.

"Flora, quit drooling over our boyfriends" Bloom said breaking my train of thought.

"What? I'm not…."I said flustered

"Yeah you are! Quit it, cause they'll never like you" Musa said

"But you're not understanding I wasn't…" I tried again

"Don't even try to go after Helia, he's way to good for you" Tecna said eyeing me up and down

"Yeah, and plus, you already got rejected by him once, save yourself the embarrassment" Bloom said

I shut my eyes. How does she know about that?

"Please, just leave me alone" I begged

"Why should we, you didn't leave us alone" Stella said

"Guys, stop. Come on, let's go talk to the guys" The girl with brown hair said pulling them along

"Fine" They said defeated

I walked to the corner of the room and looked forward. A balance beam and bars stood before me. I do kind of miss doing gymnastics. Would it really hurt to try it out again….

"Class! Front and center!" The coach said blowing his whistle

I ran to the middle of the gym where everyone was standing.

"Time to pick team, Katy, Stella, you guys are captains." He said

"Taylor of course" Katy says pointing to Taylor

Taylor goes over and hugs her friend squealing.

"I'll take Bloom and Layla" Stella said pointing to them

Layla? I don't see Layla around here.

The girl with brown hair got up smiling. Layla? It can't be! She's….she's….. not fat anymore…..

"I'll take Nabu and Helia" Katy said

The 2 of them groan moving forward.

"Oh shut up babies. I don't bite!" Katy said

"I guess everybody has their own opinion on things" Brandon mumbles making everybody laugh, I even let out a small giggle but quickly covered my mouth.

"I'll take Brandon" Stella said pointing

"I'll have Sky, Riven, and Musa" Katy said

"Nooooooo!" Riven screamed holding onto the wall

Musa took his feet and brought him to Katy.

"I'll take my girl Tecna, and my boy Timmy" Stella said pointing to them.

I sighed. Just as I feared, last one to be picked.

"Okay, 2 captains rock paper scissors for Flora" Coach demanded

Stella did paper, Katy did rock.

"Fine, I'll take her" Stella said in an annoyed tone

I walked over to her team.

So the teams were: Stella, Bloom, Tecna, Layla, Brandon, Timmy, and I

The other team was: Katy, Taylor, Musa, Helia, Riven, Sky, and Nabu

"Dodge ball people! You know the rules!" The coach said

I'm a pacifist. I don't like fighting or violence at all. I hate dodge ball with a passion.

"Let's play!" Katy screamed

I ran as fast as I could toward the ball snagging 2 of them, throwing 1 to Stella and 1 to Bloom.

Musa threw a ball at me but I quickly jumped up, the ball going under my legs.

I hit the ground and suddenly somebody else threw a ball at me. Riven!

I did a back bend missing it by an inch. A ball rolled beside me.

"Throw it Flora!" Stella screeched

"No! Here!" I said giving her the ball.

Nabu threw a ball at my face.

"Ahhhhh!" I screamed but it came out more high pitched

I cartwheel to the left dodging it.

I refuse to hit anybody.

The only people left on their team were Riven, Nabu, and Helia. On my team the only people left were Brandon and I.

"Come on Brandon you can do it!" Stella cheered

Helia threw a ball at me but I quickly dodged jumping up and letting it go between my legs. I feel like they were all aiming at me! I slid, I jumped, I ducked, I cart wheeled, I flipped.

Brandon hit Nabu and Riven but then Helia got him. It was down to me and Helia.

"Oh dear god, we're so done. Flora is the only one left" Bloom said

"Easy" Helia said with a chuckle

He threw a bunch of balls at me but I kept dodging. Truthfully, this has been a real work out. I love it! It was like back when I was doing Cheerleading, only in more appropriate clothing!  
>"Would you just hold still!" Helia screamed<p>

"Throw the ball Flora!" The people on my team screamed outraged

I finally had enough.

"Okay, what's about to happen, please don't take it personally" I said giving him a small smile.

"huh?" He asked

I took a ball and did a flip bouncing off the ball, landing on my feet, then throwing it super hard at Helia. I made a little grunt as I did that.

"Holy crap" Helia said as the ball came hurtling toward him

I got him right in the stomach. He tried to catch it but he missed. That's it, my team had won!

"Yes!"

"Finally something Flora is good for!"

"Take that Riven!"

My team was actually cheering….for me!

I went over to Helia and held out my hand.

"Sorry" I said softly

He didn't take my hand; he just got up and walked away silently. Why can't I do anything right.

Later after school was finally over I began walking to Rose's school to pick her up. When I got there and looked around. I felt my heart start to pound. Where's Rose! Where's Rose! I turned my head from left to right, and still no sign of her! Now I was just down right scared. I am not loosing another person in my family!

I saw Ms. Hudson and ran over to her.

"Where's Rose?" I asked frantically

"Sweety calm down, Rose is fine, she went over to Jamie's house. Her mother said that she and your grandmother are friends and that she called your grandmother" Ms. Hudson said

"Oh thank you God! Why didn't anybody call me?" I asked with my eyes wide

"I thought your grandmother told you already, I'm sorry" Ms. Hudson said

"Don't worry, it's fine. I just got a bit of a fright there" I said putting my hand to my heart

I walked home, slowly, admiring the beauty around me. Thankful that Rose was safe and okay. When I got to my new house I knocked on the door.

"Hi grandma" I said as she opened the door

I smelled chicken and potatoes. Yum!

"Hi darling, Rose is at her friend's house. I had no idea she and Jamie went to the same school" My grandma said

"you know them?" I asked

"Know them? I've lived next door to them forever! Jamie's grandmother Ruby lives with them, we've been best friends forever!" Grandma said with a laugh

"Wait…they live next door?" I asked

"Yes, right over there" Grandma said pointing to our left

"That's great, now Rose can always have a friend to play with" I said with a smile

"Little Jamie is quite the cutie, isn't she, and her oldest son sure is a charmer, not to mention handsome" Grandma said

"Oh you mean the one I'm marrying?" I said

"Excuse me?" Grandma said exasperated

I burst out laughing.

"Personal joke grandma, but don't worry, I'm not getting married" I said wiping away a tear of laughter from my eye

"How about you go over there now to get Rose for dinner" She said

I nodded

"Okay" I said

"Give Ruby a holler for me" Grandma said

I nodded then went to the left of the house. Jamie's house was like 3 times our house. Personally, I prefer a small house from big. Most people would say, what is wrong with you Flora! Go for the bigger house! I just prefer smaller because it's more cozy and together. I went toward the front door, climbing a few steps. I knocked on the glass paneled door.

The door opened and inside stood a women. She looked around the age my Mom was, 35ish. She had dark blue almost black hair, just like Jamie. Her eyes were the same color too. She was tall and thin. She was wearing a brown sweater and jeans.

"Hi, my name is Flora, I live next door. I'm here to pick up Rose" I said

"Oh, you're Anne's grand daughter. Nice to meet you. My name is Suzanne. Come inside. Rose and Jamie are upstairs playing" Suzanne said

"Oh that's sweet. I just want to let you know how much of a sweety pie Jamie is. I sent Rose in there and in less than 5 seconds they were like instant best friends" I told her

She laughed

"I can tell, they keep talking about some marriage and how they're going to be sister's" She said. I started laughing again thinking about what happened with my grandmother.

Suzanne took me upstairs to Jamie's room. The room was so purple and ruffly. It was princess themed. It was basically a little girl's dream room.

Suzanne went downstairs.

"Flora!" Rose said running into my arms

"Hey sweety" I said hugging her

"Hi Flora" Jamie said waving

"Hi Jamie, thank you for having Rose over, next time you have to come to our house, okay?" I said

"Okay! That sounds like fun!" Jamie said

"Oh I forgot to ask you Rosey, how was your first day?" I asked

"Magnificently, most absolutely, most amazingest day ever!" She said happily

I didn't correct her grammer in the word amazingest, no need to kill the moment.

"Good!" I said

"How was yours Flora? Did you make a lot of friends? You're probably the most prettiest one there!" Rose said crazily

"Not today sweety. Today wasn't really to great for me" I said

"Why?" Jamie asked

"Nothing, don't worry about it girls. I'll tell you what Jamie. You come over tomorrow and I'll teach you girls how to bake cupcakes from scratch" I told them

"Cool!" Jamie said excitedly

"Thanks Flora!" Rose said throwing her arm around me

"You ready to go?" I asked holding out my hand

Rose nodded taking it

I turned around and the most craziest, unexpected, most horrifying thing happened.

There he stood, his arms crossed, leaning on the wall, one foot on the wall. A bored expression on his face.

"Now you're in my house? Stalker much"


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Thank you to everybody that reviewed my story, just wanted to let you know they all made me feel really great. Thanks a lot.**

**Chapter 5**

"Now you're in my house? Stalker much" Helia said eyeing me up and down, then down to my hand inside Rose's

"Helia? Woah…wait…oh my goodness" I said starting to figure it out

I bent down towards Jamie

"Jamie sweety, is Helia your brother?" I asked a little alarmed

She nodded with a smile

"Yeah! He's the guy you're marrying!" She screamed on the top of her lungs

My face went bright red.

"James, ya wanna repeat that for me?" Helia said with a look of humor in his eyes

"You and Flora are getting married! Flora said so herself!" Jamie said

Helia burst out laughing

"No! No! I..I..I didn't say that! I…she….you…and…and…..I didn't say that!" I stuttered shaking my hands in a way that I was saying absolutely positively not.

Helia put his hands on my shoulder, making my face burn deeper

"Oh don't worry Flora….or should I say wife? Jamie's right, we are getting married, in fact, why don't you come move in with us" Helia said going along with their little game

My face was beat red at this time. I couldn't help it.

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! Sisters!" Rose and Jamie squealed hugging each other and jumping around

"No James, me and Flora are not getting married" Helia said taking his hands of me

"W…what?" Jamie said

"Oh I know Jamie! They're dating!" Rose said

"No Rosey, we're not dating" I said trying to get out of there as fast as I could. I picked her up in my arms so she didn't have a choice of running away.

"Thank you Jamie, Helia, it's been a pleasure. We have to go home now, goodbye" I said politely leaving through the door

I heard Helia chuckle as we left. What a jerk. I decided to do something way out of character for me.

"Don't hate me cause I dominated you in dodge ball today!" I yelled as I left

Although my yells always turned out a bit softer than hoped, but it was still affective.

"What was that?" He yelled back

I giggled as I opened the door to leave

Rose and Jamie looked at each other with mischievous looks on their little faces. They nodded to each other, obviously planning something.

I put Rose down on the grass and we began running together toward the house for some dinner.

Later that night I went up to my room. I took a nice long shower, thinking about all the events that have happened today. What a train wreck! It was possibly the worst day of my life! I've never actually been bullied before. When I was popular, I was always the bullier. When I went to a new school I was considered cute little Flora, nobody really ever was so mean to me. Now that I'm going back to my old school in the place of the one being bullied, I see how much it really hurts. Today I was called things that I won't even say because it is foul language. The funny thing is, I do in fact believe, that I deserved every bit of it. I know that people usually say revenge is never the answer, but if this is the way they want to face the issue, then so be it. They're just giving me the same courtesy I gave them 3 years ago. I got out of the shower, getting dressed in stretchy shorts and a tank top. As I opened the bathroom door steam poured into my room, so I opened up a window to get some air in. Oh how I hate high school drama. I got my guitar out from the side of my bed and sat on my bed leaning against the frame. I played a few cords. It's just so unfair! I wonder if Taylor or Katy…or even Helia…has ever felt like this. Like a stupid piece of dirt on the ground.

I got out a paper and began to jot down some lyrics. The songs I write are just basically just things that I'm feeling. I began to sing.

**Outside looking in (by Jordan Pruitt)**

You don't know my name  
>you don't know anything about me<br>I try to play nice  
>I want to be in your game<br>The things that you say  
>You may think I never hear about them<br>But word travels fast  
>I'm telling you to your face<br>I'm standing here behind your back

[Chorus:]  
>You don't know how it feels<br>To be outside the crowd  
>You don't know what it's like<br>To be left out  
>And you don't know how it feels<br>To be your own best friend on the outside looking in

If you could read my mind  
>You might see more of me that meets the eye<br>And you've been all wrong  
>Not who you think I am<br>You've never given me a chance

[Chorus:]  
>You don't know how it feels<br>To be outside the crowd  
>You don't know what it's like<br>To be left out  
>And you don't know how it feels<br>To be your own best friend on the outside looking in

Well, I'm tired of staying at home  
>I'm bored and all alone<br>I'm sick of wasting all my time

[Chorus (x2):]  
>You don't know how it feels<br>To be outside the crowd  
>You don't know what it's like<br>To be left out  
>And you don't know how it feels<br>To be your own best friend on the outside looking in

You don't know how it feels  
>To be outside the crowd<br>You don't know what it's like  
>To be left out<br>And you don't know how it feels  
>To be your own best friend on the outside looking in<p>

I stopped singing, sighing at my own depression. What have they done to me?

Suddenly I felt as though I was being watched.

I got up and looked outside my window from left to right. I looked forward toward Helia's house. I shook my head then closed my window.

Oh why did my life have to turn over like this? I got into my bed getting underneath the warm blanket. I looked to my right. There was prized possession, my picture of me, my mom and Rose.I was 9 and a half and Rose had just turned 7. My mom looked so happy there. I smiled to myself.

"Goodnight Mom" I said kissing the picture

I turned my lamp off soon going into a blissful slumber.

I woke the next morning to the sound of Rose's voice in my ear.

"Flora! Flora! Flora! You gotta get up!" Rose screamed

"What! What's the matter!" I screamed looking around the room alarmed.

"Nothing, Jamie wanted me to tell you to look out your window" Rose said with a shrug

I had a confused look on my face, but got up anyway.

"Rose, what is this about…..woah!"

I looked out the window and what did I see? I saw Helia in a towel putting on a shirt.

I quickly put my hand over Rose's eyes and turned her around.

Helia looked out his window opening his eyes wide as if to say, what the hell?

"Sorry! Good morning! I'm…I'm going to shut the curtain now" I said quickly shutting my curtain, trying not to relive what just happened.

"Okay, that was inappropriate" I said to Rose

"Sorry" She said going into a fit of giggles then running out the door.

"Where are you going?" I called after her

"I have to call Jamie!" She screamed picking up the house phone

I shut my door falling onto my bed.

"That was embarrassing" I said to my self with a sigh that ended with a small giggle

I got up and went to my closet. Hmmm…what should I wear today? I got out my red flowery skirt. I put on a white ruffly top, a red sweater, and a thin white belt over it. I put on my high top converse and red bangles. I put on my gold hoop earrings, and put my hair into a high pony.

I went down stairs to the kitchen. I ate a nice breakfast including toast and eggs.

"Flora, Thanksgiving is coming up soon" My grandma said

"I know, I was thinking that Dad could come over here and then we can have like a big feast! I'll cook! We can invite the whole family in fact!" I said excitedly

"That sounds great darling….but I have a bit of bad news" My Grandma said

"What is it?" I asked putting down my cup of juice and walking over to her

"Well…you see….your Father….he called" My Grandma said

"What did he say?" I asked feeling a bit intrigued

"He can't make it for Thanksgiving…." My Grandma said

"Oh…are you sure?" I asked feeling a little sad

"Yes, I'm sorry. He said he's working very hard and just can't find time" Grandma said putting her hand on my shoulder

"Well…it doesn't matter. We'll always see him by Christmas, right! I say we go ahead with the idea!" I said perking up

"Actually, we already have plans" My Grandma said

"We do?" I asked

"Yes, we are going up to the mountains, with some friends. They invited us" She said

"That sounds awesome" I said opening my eyes

"I was so scared you wouldn't want to go" Grandma said with relief in her voice

I looked at my watch

"We better go, Rose, get your stuff please" I told Rose

I ran upstairs to get my stuff

"You wont be to happy after you hear who we're going with…" Grandma mumbled so only she could hear it

After dropping Rose of at school I went toward my school. I don't want to go back. I have to go though. This isn't for me though, it's for Mom

"This is for Mom" I breathed under my breathe walking in with my head down.

I went toward my locker putting some stuff in, taking a few things out. I made my way towards my first period class. History with Bloom and Stella. I took a breathe then walked in, placing my stuff in the spot Ms. Grizeda told me to sit.

"Hey! What are you doing? That's my chair" Bloom said running over

"Oh I'm sorry, I'll move over" I said putting it in the seat next to it

"That's my seat!" Stella said slapping her heal on the chair right before I could put my stuff down

"Ms. Grizelda told me to sit here with you guys so I have no choice. I'm sorry" I said

"Well, you'll have to find an extra seat and desk then cause there's an odd amount of desks in here" Bloom told me with a sigh

I almost heard pity in her voice, instead of hate

"Thank you" I told her looking around

I paused

"Where exactly would I find a desk and chair?" I asked

"Figure it out" Bloom replied

There's that hate again.

I looked around the classroom, but couldn't find anything. Oh no, what should I do! Ms. Grizelda is going to be angry if I'm not sitting.

The bell rang and Ms. Grizelda walked in. I paused and walked over to Stella's desk and stood there quietly, all of my stuff in hand.

"Ms. Flora, do you need an extra welcoming to sit down?" Grizelda asked

"N..No I'm sorry, there aren't any chairs for me" I said

"Alright, I'll have to find you a desk or tomorrow. For today just…just…sit on the floor I guess" Grizelda said pointing down

Some people started laughing. I shrugged and got onto the floor, dropping my things.

"Well, okay" I said getting out my notebook.

Classes were pretty brutal for me, and I don't mean the school work. People were just so mean to me. I counted the minutes before I could go get Rose and just go home. Oh wait, then Helia will be there…

I sat at an empty lunch table eating a sandwich. I was reading Romeo and Julliet, one of my favorites. I took a sip of my water, turning the page of my book when suddenly…splat!

Somobody through their lunch at me. Maybe it was an accident. I quickly got up wiping away some mashed potatoes from my skirt.

It was some football players. They were sitting with the cheerleaders, all of them laughing and pointing. I turned to the other table filled with football players that were sitting with Bloom, Stella, Tecna, Layla, and Musa. They were also laughing, all except one. Layla. She had her hand over her mouth, staring in shock.

"Hey, can't forget the ketchup" A football player said coming up behind me and squeezing ketchup on my head.

I let out a gasp, covering my head.

I heard more people laughing, saw more people pointing.

I tried to wipe ketchup of my face but it was just trickling down my body.

"How was that Katy?" The guy that spilled ketchup on my head called to his table

I looked over and saw Katy giving him the thumbs up.

I took a breath, picked up my book and backpack, and left. I walked out of the Cafeteria, gaining many stares because of my appearance. I went straight to the bathroom. Seriously, I think I've come into this bathroom at least a thousand times since I've arrived at this school. I've cried in here, I've ate in here, I've hid out in here. Here and the nurse's office have been my home. The nurse is like my best friend at this point. She's a nice woman so I'm happy to call her my friend.

I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn't help myself from crying. I went into a stall and cried. The tears weren't heavy like last time, they were softer and were coming slower. I took a strand of my hair and tried to pluck some noodles out of it.

Suddenly, I heard the bathroom door open.

"Flora?" I heard

I remained silent, but you could hear the huffing of my breath.

"Sweety, are you okay? Come out, I want to help you" I heard

I haven't heard those words around here in a while. I wonder who it is.

I reached my hand out and opened the door of the stall. I walked out and saw Layla. A shocked look crossed my face.

"Oh no, come here" She said leading me to the sink

She turned on the water and began washing out my hair.

"Those guys can be jerks" She said

"Maybe it was an accident" I said

"Flora, you shouldn't let yourself be pushed around like that" Layla said

"Why shouldn't I, I deserve it" I said running my fingers through my hair.

"No you don't" Layla said

"I do" I said in a small voice

I lifted my head back up. My hair was now wet and totally food and ketchup free.

"Thanks" I said giving her a fire

Layla went to the wall and sat down on the floor. She pat the place next to her.

"Let's talk" Layla said

I sat down next to her, looking down at my clothing.

"So, how was your old school?" Layla asked starting conversation

"Layla, I am so, so, so, so sorry" I said

"For what?" Layla asked

"For just…for everything" I said

Layla smiled.

"Believe me Flora, you have nothing to be sorry for. Right now, I'm the one that's sorry. My friends, they really aren't like that. They're actually really nice girls. They just said they wanted to give you a 'taste of your own medicine' Don't worry though, I'm sure they'll forget about it soon" She said

"Layla, you should hate me right now. You should be screaming at me and calling me words in which I am not entitled to say. DO you not remember what I did to you?" I asked

"Flora, you've changed, a lot. I remember how you used to be, believe me, I remember" Layla said wrapping her arms around her knees.

"Layla, you are beautiful, and you were always beautiful. I'm sorry for those things I used to say to you" I said

"It's okay, I don't mind" Layla said shrugging

"So what happened? Ever since I left I felt so guilty for saying those things" I said

"I started exercising, well, more like slaving to get skinny. By the middle of 9th grade I shed a bunch of pounds. Then I started trying out things I couldn't do before with all the extra weight. I did my first cartwheel. In 10th grade I figured out I was athletic, and I lost 35 pounds in a year. 11th grade I was finally skinny, and my doctor told me I could eat as much as I want as long as I maintain a healthy diet and play sports and stay the way I am. So here I am, 12th grade" Layla said

"Oh my gosh, I did that to you?" I asked covering my mouth with my hand

"Don't worry about it, Nabu told me I was beautiful the way I was, but I never believed him. So I guess it's sort of my fault too" Layla said

"Nabu? Hey, by the way, congratulations on that. When did you guys start to date?" I asked smiling

"A little after you left. He was laughed at for dating the 'fat girl', which was another reason I slaved myself to loose some weight" Layla said

"At least you know one thing" I said smiling

"What?" Layla asked

"He loves you for you, even though he got made fun of" I said

Layla laughed

"After a while it died out. The girls and I were all dating 'football player', woopdie doo! We're didn't become popular or any of that junk, but we're happy" Layla said

I started laughing at Layla's comment.

"What about you?"" Layla asked

"A lot has happened to me throughout the years I was gone, I can't even explain it" I said

"Sounds complicated" She replied

The bell rang.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, but I really have to get going" I said getting up

"You to Flora, hey, check it out, you just made a friend" Layla said giving me a smile

"Thanks" I said walking to the door

"And Flora" Layla said

I turned around

"There's a choice to be made here, you know. You could either take their crap, or stand up for yourself. The choice is yours" Layla said

I nodded, waving goodbye.

**So, I know that was a bit boring. The story is just getting into gear, I promise! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Layla's words had been inside my head ever since she said them to me. Each period that day, when I was taunted, something inside of me wanted to break free and just tell them to please stop. As I was walking home from school, my hair beginning to loose its wetness, but my clothes still stained and nasty, I felt as if I was being watched. I was just walking passed the park. There were so many people there; I was probably just being paranoid. I paused and looked around, and nobody was there. I continued walking on, but I still felt somebody's eyes on mine. I walked into the park, looking around for Jamie's mom. Jamie's mom had taken Rose and Jamie to the park after school. I finally found her pushing Rose and Jamie on the swings.

I smiled and ran over to them.

"Hi sweety" She said giving me a smile

"Hi, thanks again for taking Rose" I said

"Not a problem, I love having her around" Jamie's mom said

"Hi Flora" Rose called as her swing reached the top them came plummeting down.

"Hey. 5 more minutes than we have to go, okay?" I asked

She nodded

"Okay, wait for me by that bench" She said pointing behind me

"Umm….ok" I said confused

I turned around and saw Helia sitting on the bench. He had a pencil in hand and a sketch pad in front o him. He looked very concentrated on whatever he was drawing.

Now I'm starting to understand her battle plans.

I sighed then took a seat on the other side of the bench. I tried to keep my eyes on my legs but couldn't help but look over every few seconds. He looked so cute while he drew. Maybe I could just take a peak at what he was drawing…

"What are you doing?" He asked quickly turning the page over

"Nothing, just wondering what you were drawing" I said calmly

"Did I tell you that you could look?"

"No" I replied with a shrug

"Exactly," He said glaring

He looked back down at his paper "Stupid Blonde" I heard him mumble

My mouth shot open.

I was about to get up when suddenly I heard Layla's words in my head.

"Helia" I said

"What" He groaned looking up again

"Okay 1, I would prefer if you stopped talking to me like that and you address me by my name instead of stupid stereo type names, and 2, I'm not blonde I'm brunette….with blonde highlights…." I said not looking at him, just crossing my arms and looking at Rose. I was waiting for him to laugh or say something sarcastic but instead I got…

"Very well, Flora" He said emotionlessly, continuing to draw

I smiled to myself, kind of surprised at his answer.

He turned to me quickly putting his hand on the part of the bench behind my back.

"On one condition" He said with smirk on his face

My eyebrows narrowed in confusion, and a bit of nervousness.

"Okay" I said in a small voice

He smiled then leaned in toward my face, a look in his eye.

I panicked, bending my back downwards to try to avoid his face. I began to slowly move back toward the edge of the bench.

"What's the condition" I said with a gulp, my face beginning to redden

"No more morning peaks at my abs" He said

My eyes shot open along with my mouth. I let out a gasp then out of all confusion I ended up falling of the bench, smashing my but down on the solid ground. Helia burst out laughing, and I mean like a full out hysterical laugh.

"No! That's not…I didn't….your sister…..it was….you've misunderstood!" I stuttered

"Mhhmmmmn" He said wiping a tear from laughing so hard

"Seriously! I wasn't trying to look! I closed the curtain!" I screamed shaking my hands in front of his face

"And you just happened to look at my abs. I might have even saw you drooling" Helia taunted

"I wasn't drooling! I swear this was all a misunderstanding!" I screamed

"Hmmmm…who should I tell first in school? Maybe they'll hate you more than they already do!" He said with sarcastic enthusiasm

Ouch. Well that hurts.

"You know Helia, you're a real jerk" I said becoming angry

"I've been told….but you know what's funny? 3 years ago you had a crush on this jerk, but was rejected" He said tauntingly

"You know now that I think about it, I'm lucky" I said with a laugh

"Oh? And why is that?" He asked

"Because, you saved me. You saved me from going out with a person like you. You are absolutely nothing like I remember you as" I said

Helia rolled his eyes.

"You may still be smart and an athlete, but you no longer have what I thought was the best thing about you," I looked deep into his eyes. "heart" I said softly

Helia remained silent, drawing on his paper.

I turned around and walked toward the swings

"Come on Rosey, let's go home" I said holding my hand out

"Okay. Bye Jamie! I'll see you on Thanksgiving!" Rose screamed waving

As we walked something hit me.

"Rosey, what do you mean you'll see her on Thanksgiving?" I asked

"We're going with them to the mountain place! Grandma didn't tell you?" Rose asked

My eyes widened

"No I'm afraid grandma forgot to tell me that little bit" I said biting my lip.

The next day at school, things were pretty much the same. Nothing new at all. Everybody still hated me. Thankfully nobody spilled food on me yet today…yet. I saw Layla a few times, and she was nice to me at least. She said hey and what's up, even chose me first to be on her team today during gym.

As I entered the cafeteria today, sitting alone at my usual table, something happened. Something…strange. I guess I should probably start from the beginning. I was sitting and eating my crackers. I was just about to finish Romeo and Juliet! My hair began to fall down onto my book pages. With a sigh I put my hair up into a messy bun. Hmmm….I guess I am sort of a blonde….but Helia had no right to make some stupid stereo type blonde joke! I can't stand him! I've never hated anyone before in the last 3 years of my life. Why is it that when I look at him all I see is hate? Why does he hate me so much? Did I do something to him? I don't really remember being so mean to him back before my Mother's passing. I truly don't understand...

"Hey Flora"

I looked up from my book. What I saw was kind of surprising to me. I saw Layla smiling at me in a friendly way. Then behind her were her 5 friends, their boyfriends, and Helia. Everyone, besides Layla and Nabu, looked like they did not want to be there. I guess Layla talked to Nabu about me and maybe he's just doing some great acting.

"Hello" I said smiling. I shut my book, marking the page.

"Are these seats taken?" Layla asked

"Well I guess so! Nice talking to you! Let's go" Stella said turning Layla around. I didn't even answer them yet.

"Stella! What did we talk about?" I heard Layla whisper to her.

"Fine" Stella mumbled

"No, of course you can sit" I said with a giggle pointing around me

"Great!" Nabu said taking a seat on my right

"Yeah, come on girls, take a seat" Layla said sitting on my left

I couldn't help but smile. I knew what they were doing. I think it's the sweetest thing I have ever seen since I first set foot in this building. I decided to go along with it.

The girls all slowly made their way to the bench and sat down, pulling out their food.

"Come on guys" Nabu said, giving them a look.

All the guys came without a problem, but Helia moaned loudly.

"So what's new with you Flora?" Layla asked trying to start up conversation

"Well….I'm going away for Thanksgiving" I said hopelessly, wondering what they wanted to stay

"Really? You're going away? For like…forever?" Musa asked, a look of hope in her eyes. I decided to ignore it.

"No, just a few days. Going up to the mountains" I said

"No way, Helia's going to the mountain too! Isn't that so weird?" Nabu asked

"I guess" I said with a shrug. I decided not to make any eye contact with Helia.

There was a long awkward silence

"So…" Tecna said

"So…" I repeated

"You meet any cute guys you might be interested in?" Layla asked nudging me playfully

This had the girls all ears.

I giggled.

"Not really, but I'll keep you posted" I said

"Well, this has been fun…and awkward…mostly awkward. I guess we better go now. Come on gang!" Stella said moving her arm with sarcastic enthusiasm

"Well, well, well. Looks like you've found yourself a group more….suited for you Flora"

I looked up and saw Kate and Taylor in front of me, wearing their cheerleading uniforms.

"Kelly, Tanya, why don't you just…leave" Brandon said rolling his eyes at them

"Okay 1, it's Kate and Taylor, like you didn't already know that. And 2, who do you think you are little monkey boy? How dare you even talk to us like that! My daddy is the mayor!" Kate screamed

"Um, correction Kate, MY daddy is the mayor. Your daddy is my daddy's assistant" Stella said putting a hand on her hip

Everyone on our table began laughing as Kate turned bright red

"Yeah well nobody cares Stella. By the way, love the hair. Is that blonde or grey" Taylor asked

"I don't know, why don't we compare….oh wait, we cant! Mine is natural and yours is fake!" Stella said covering her mouth with her hand, looking sarcastically shocked.

"My hair is not fake!" Taylor squealed

"Funny, cause 2 years ago you were brunette" Bloom said  
>"What about Flora. Obviously fake" Kate said, rolling her eyes<p>

"Are you kidding? Flora's hair is more real than nose on your face! What is that number 21, 22? Yeah, that's right, we know about your plastic surgery, everyone knows!" Musa said

Was Musa…standing up for me?

Kate screamed, covering her nose with her hands

"It's not fake…." Kate said

"Oh shut up Musa. What are you some kind of "gangster girl"?" Taylor said with a laugh  
>"Nope, I'm the gangster one of the group. How may I help you oh great one?" Layla said stepping forward and bowing.<p>

Everyone started cracking up.

"Oh we're not here for you dorks, we're here for Flora" Kate said

"Flora! Oh great one is calling you!" Layla screamed on the top of her lungs

I couldn't help myself, I burst out laughing.

The whole Cafeteria was looking toward us because of Layla's sudden outburst.

I was laughing so hard I fell of my chair. We were all on the floor laughing. I turned on my side and saw Kate's stiletto heal slam in front of my face.

"Well I guess we know one thing. You still can't fight your own wars" Kate said glaring. She turned around and began walking away with Taylor in tow.

My fists at my side clenched up.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Layla screamed at her

I lifted myself up.

"Kate." I said sternly and loudly so that everyone could hear me.

She turned around, a smirk on her face.

The cafeteria went silent.

"Yes?" She asked

"There's a word for people like you," I took a breath "Bully" I said

She laughed

"Flora dear, that's the best you can come up with?" She asked raising her eyebrow

I went towards her narrowing my eyes.

"You hurt people for your own joy. When you make somebody feel bad about how they look or who they are socially, you're basically killing them. You want to know how I know this? Because I used to be like you. In fact, I used to envy you." I said thinking back

"Okay, now say that again, but can you ungeek it for me?" She asked

"There's an example right there. Calling me a geek? Well you want to know something? I am proud of who I am and of the words I speak. I used to not be, but I am now. I used to purposely fail my tests to please you! But I am done with that" I told her

She walked closer to me.

"No you're not Flora. You won't be done with me, till I tell you that you're done with me. I don't know how things went in your old school, but around here I settle the score" She said glaring

I laughed

"That's where your wrong Kate. You are no better than me, You are no better than Bloom. You are no better than Stella, You are no better than Tecna. You are no better that Musa, and I assure you you are no better than Laya. All you are is a girl with a huge ego. So right now I am saying to you that I am free. I am free of being your little slave!" I screamed at her

Her eyes widened a bit, but then they went back down to a smirk.

"Yes Flora, because I care so deeply about what you think. Nobody here likes you! Nobody here wants you! So go back to wherever you came from" She said. She turned around again and began walking

"No" I said

"Excuse me?" She asked

"I said no. Like I said before, I'm free. I am free of you. And you know what else?" I said

"What?" She asked with a smirk

I walked over to the table and pointed to this girl.

"See this girl here? She's free too. Layla is the only person in this whole school, that showed me an ounce of friendliness. Layla is the one everyone should be jealous of" I said

Layla smiled at me

I walked over to Bloom.

"And you know what else. I might have insulted and embarrassed Bloom in the passed and I know that she doesn't like me very much right now, but at least she sat with me today. Bloom has a thousand things over you Kate. Bloom is beautiful and intelligent, something that everybody wants" I said

I saw Bloom let a smile go.

I walked over to Stella.

"Stella Solaria, she may be rich, and her Dad may be the mayor, but you know what she has that you will never have? Gratitude! Stella has Gratitude! Everyone takes her for some dumb blonde, which by the way very stereo type," I said looking at Helia

"But Stella is no dumb blonde. Stella is one of the bravest person I have ever met. She can definitely be a fighter when she wants to be. Stella is beautiful and kind hearted! You Kate, will never ever be kind hearted." I said

Stella was smiling from ear to ear

"Oh I cant help it, give me a hug!" Stella screamed throwing her arms around me

I laughed,

"Thank you" I whispered

When she let me go, I walked over to Tecna.

"Tecna is one of the smartest people I have ever met. She can hack into any computer and can do problems in less than…I don't even know! But you know what? Tecna is modest about it. Tecna doesn't flaunt it around, and do you want to know why? It's because she's proud of it. Tecna is so different from you, Kate. Tecna has something called intuition. Tecna will move on to greater things than flirting." I said

Tecna smiled at me.

I went over to Musa.

"Musa, I don't have words to describe how envious I am of Musa. Musa isn't afraid to speak up when she needs to. She's one of the most athletic girls I've ever met. Musa has something called individuality. You Kate, can never be an individual. You always dress the way people are dressing in magazines, you always just say what everybody else is saying, you always care about social statuses. Musa doesn't care about being popular! Musa will never ever be sucked into your little vortex of putting other people down! Musa is headstrong and an individual! 2 things that you can never ever be" I screamed

Musa slowly gave me a smile

I stood in front of all 5 of them.

"I know that you all probably hate me for the things I did to you back in 8th grade, and I totally understand that. I'm not asking you to forget about it and to be my best friend. I am asking for your forgiveness. I am so deeply and truly sorry for those things that I said to you. Especially you Layla, I know that I tormented you throughout your childhood, and I am so sorry. Stella, I'm sorry for calling you fake and ugly when you were really just beautiful and I was jealous. Bloom, I'm sorry for saying that you were mean when really you were the nicest girl in the whole school. Tecna, I'm sorry for calling you Tecnofreak, because you aren't. You're amazing with computers, and that's your crazy amazing talent. Musa, I'm sorry for telling you that you acted like you were some gangster from Brooklyn. All that you were was headstrong and brave. All I'm trying to say to you girls is that I'm sorry" I said

They all nodded, smiling.

I turned around toward Kate.

"So you know what Kate? I'm free from you. They're all free from you. And you know what else?" I said

I got up onto the lunch table.

"This whole school is free of you!"


	7. HELP!

**Hey you guys! So I have a bit of a problem so I kind of need your feedback on it. I have a question for you all and I would love if you can answer it for me! **

**Okay so, I know that you are all loving this story, and I am too, but I was just laying in my bed on Sunday and I just had this brainstorm for an all new Flora/Helia story. Here's what it's about:**

** Flora has absolutely no memory of her past. Where she came from, her last name, how she ended up in Knightly Castle. King Henry, the king of Knightly says that he had taken her in when she was small. Ever since, Flora has been living as a maid, never going to school, and never understanding what it truly meant to all in love. Her best friends, Bloom, Stella, Musa, Layla, and Tecna work as maids too. They too met the same fate as she had, with no memories of their pasts. The 6 of them are hard workers, waking up at 4:30 am and not sleeping till 11. One day, there is a raid on Knightly castle, where Prince Helia's life is put into danger. Prince Helia, being the strong man he was, managed to get away. Helia's parents, Henry and Rosalinda, are now becoming nervous, wondering if it would be safe to send Helia back to his boarding school. The girls come up with an idea, what if they could go and accompany Prince Helia at his school (Red Fountain and Alfea combined, but no magic). They would train to be warriors and act as his body guards…the hard part is, prince Helia can' find out who they are, or what their mission was. **

**Even harder than that, the girls are starting to fall in love with Helia's best friends. And Flora, blinded by love, may be falling in love with Prince Helia himself…..and he may be falling back. Can the maids show everyone what they're truly made of, find out things they never knew about their pasts, and get the guy? Find out in Blinded By Love.**

**Now that you have a little taste of what the story is about here's my problem. Now, I can either continue with this story, or I can start the new story. I can't do both because unfortunately, I don't have enough time for both. I'd hate to have to let this story go though…..urghhhhh! I'm so conflicted! Please help! **

**Vote:**

**for Second Chances**

**for Blinded Love**

**Please vote! Thanks a bunch!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey so thanks to all of your helpful feedback, I've come down to a decision, I will continue this story, than do Blinded by love afterwards. **

**Chapter 7:**

I stood in surprise, looking around myself. Did I really just do that? Did I really just say that? How could...why would...is...is this for real? No, this must be a dream! It couldn't be a dream, I hoped it was a dream. Everybody was looking at me, standing on the cafeteria table.  
>"Looks like I was right, why don't you just save yourself the embarrassment? Get down from there" Kate said, her devious smirk across her face<br>This is so terrible...I have to get outta here...  
>"Yeah!"<br>I turned my head and saw Layla clapping  
>"yeah! Flora's right!" Bloom screamed<br>"Preach it girl! No more Kate!" Stella screamed  
>"down with Kate! Down with Taylor!" Tecna and Musa cheered<br>I smiled brightly feeling a new found confidence overtake me.  
>"You go Flora!"<br>I turned my head to the left looking toward the goth table. They were all standing up nodding their heads  
>"We're done with you Kate!"<br>I turned my head toward where the sporty girls were sitting  
>They were up and clapping too.<br>Soon enough, the whole cafeteria was up and clapping, screaming words of encouragement, chanting was more like it. I couldn't help but smile.  
>I stood there, turning my head from left and right, finally feeling some sort of acceptance.<br>"I guess not Kate" I whispered to Kate

Kate put her fingers to her lips and blew making a huge whistle sound  
>"Everyone shut up!" she and Taylor screamed<br>Everyone shut up automatically, like they were afraid of her

"Another word out of any of you and I swear I will ruin you" Kate said with this deadly look in her eye.

I have to say, I was extremely scared of her.  
>"Kate" I said "you don't have to do this. People change. You can change, I have" I told her taking a step back<br>Kate stepped onto the lunch table  
>"Maybe I don't want to change. You know, things were a lot better when you weren't here. Things were in tact. Now you listen to me, and you listen good. I can see through your little act. Your stupid little dresses and your stupid hair, it's all fake flora. You are fake. I know you flora. You're an under grading little bitch. No, you're an under grading little bitch with no boobs. You like to insult people and you like to start rumors about people. I don't really care if your stupid mother died because she was a crack pot, or your father walked out on you because he slept with other women, or that you're poor. You will always be a little bitch" Kate said with a laugh<br>People gasped  
>"Oh hell to the no, tell me she did not just say that" I heard Layla say<br>Kate was taking steps forward as she said this. With ever step she took forward, I took back.  
>"No, you're wrong. That's who I used to be. I am not proud of it, and I regret it. You can call me names, you can tell me who I'm supposed to be, but you can't tell me who I am. And don't you dare call my mother names. She wasn't a bad person, my mother was amazing, my mother was twice the women that you'll ever be. Another thing, my father loves me so don't you dare say he doesn't care. My father never slept with anyone, I can promise you that. And whether I'm poor or not is none of your business Kate"<p>

Little did she know, how much money I really had. If only I could tell her, that would show her!

She gave me this look.

"You do know that you just admitted that your pour, right here in front of everyone" Kate said taking another step forward

"And YOU do realize that I don't care" I said stepping down from the table. I began to walk out of the cafeteria.

"Flora, Flora, Flora. Walking away from your fights again I see" Kate said

I shut my eyes

"Excuse me?" I asked

"Your mother dies, you move away. You're called a bitch, you run away and cry in the girls bathroom. I'm telling you off, and you walk away. Does anybody else see a pattern" Kate stated

"Maybe walking away is my way of saying I'm finished fighting, and I don't want to do that anymore" I told her

"That just makes you wussy bitch" Kate said

I looked up at her standing on the table.

"I'm always going to be superior, and you will always just be a piece of dirt. Welcome to my highschool" Kate said stepping down

I shook my head. This is how I have been feeling this whole time, and hearing it come out of her mouth…it just killed me. All the rage that was bottled up inside of me, I had to let it go. I felt my hand fly out and make contact with her cheek. Once my hand had hit her cheek it was like time had stopped. The look on her face was just, mesmerizing. My hand shot to my mouth. Everyone gasped.

"Oh my gosh Kate, I am so sorry" I said with my eyes

"Flora you little bit…."

I felt somebody's hand on my shoulder turning me around.

"Come on Flora, let's go. Oh and by the way Kate, Flora just totally did what everybody in this room, including me wanted to do for years. Flora, you are officially my hero" Layla said pushing me forward, but not before giving Kate a look.

Layla and her group of friends had left the cafeteria with me.

Once we were in the hallway, something hit me, I just hit Kate!

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Kate's gonna kill me. I'm dead, I'm way passed dead" I said starting to hyperventilate, which only happens when I'm extremely nervous

"Okay, Flora calm yourself. Girl meeting in the bathroom!" Stella screamed opening up the girl's bathroom door

The boys tried to follow behind us as we went inside

"The GIRL'S bathroom" Stella said putting a hand in front of her telling them to stop

"It was worth a try" Brandon said with a shrug

All the girls huddled around me. I was starting to calm down a bit.

"Wow, that felt good. I've always wanted to do that" I said taking in a breath

The girls all laughed

"So…I guess this means we're like…more than acquaintances?" I asked awkwardly

"Flora, we aren't more than acquaintances stupid. After all that you said to us I believe we are now called 'friends' "Stella said

My face lit up with a smile.

Stella and Layla put their arms around me.

"What do ya say girls? Ready to let the past be the past?" Layla asked

The 3 girls looked at each other than shrugs.

"I guess" They said with a shrug and a smile

"Yay! Wow this is so weird. I never would have thought that we'd ever be friends with Flora" Stella said

"Well, we aren't officially friends yet, now are we" Bloom said with a twinkle in her eye

I had a confused look as the other 4 girls began to laugh

"You haven't passed the test of Winx yet!" Bloom said

"Huh?" I asked

"The test of Winx. It's like a little dare that we put together to see if you can enter our little club, the Winx Club" Layla explained

"The Winx Club?" I asked

"Yup. Bloom and I started it when we were 4! First it was just Bloom and I, then in 1st grade we added Flora, in 3rd grade we added Musa, and in 4th grade we added Tecna and Layla. Now it's your turn" Stella said

"Really? You seriously want you in your club?" I asked surprised

"But of course. Anybody that can talk back to Kate is my friend, anybody that can slap Kate, now that's a best friend" Musa said

We all laughed

"So what do I have to do?" I asked excited and intrigued, both at the same time.

"We'll have to think long and hard about it, but I think I've got it" Layla said

The 5 girls huddled together, and Layla whispered something. They all nodded in approval.

"Well…?" I asked

"You have to break into Helia's bedroom and steal a pair of boxers" Tecna said

My eyes bulged out

"Are you insane!" I screamed

"It's perfect!" Musa said

"It's not perfect, it's breaking and entering" I said

"Well we all had to do it!" Stella said

"You took a pair of Brandon's boxers, when you were 4?" I asked

"Yup, I took the extra pair from his cubby" Stella said

Everyone looked at her with a, your totally insane, look.

"What? It was a simpler time then!" Stella screamed

"Come on Flora, pretty, pretty please?" Musa said with a puppy dog look

"Oh fine. But if we're going to do this…..come to my house tomorrow at 7" I said

"Why?" Bloom asked

"Oh you'll see…" I said

Later that night when I got home, I went straight to the kitchen.

"Something smells awesome" I said

"That would be the sweet smell of my famous broccoli soufflé" My grandma replied

"And since when was it famous?" I asked with a smile

"Since I said so" My grandma said

The 2 of us laughed.

"You seem happier than usual today. Your usually happy but today more than most" My grandma said then she gasped

"Is it a boy? Is it Helia?" My Grandma said

"No….and no. It's because these girls that used to hate me, they don't hate me anymore!" I said with joy

"Why in the world would anybody hate you Flora? You're like an angel sent from above! That can cook on nights that I don't feel like doing it!" My grandma screamed

The 2 of us laughed again.

"It's because I was really mean to them last time I was here. But today, things happened, and they forgave me!" I said

"That's wonderful Flora. Now that just comes to show what a true friend is" My Grandma said

"Speaking of that, is it alright if they come over tomorrow?" I asked

"Of course they can. I'd love to meet these girls that are making you so happy" My Grandma said

After dinner I went up to my room and sat down at my desk, then opened up my notebook.

"That was quite a performance you had up there today" I heard

I looked up out the window in front of me. Helia sat writing, probably homework. As he talked he wasn't even looking up.

"Is that a compliment or an insult" I asked

"A compliment, and may I just add, the slap across the face, nice touch" He stated

"Thank you" I said with a laugh

"So what are you buddy buddy with my girls now?" He asked

"Your girls? Oh you mean Layla and the girls?" I asked

"Yeah, those are kinda the only girls that I hang out with" He said

"Well, I wouldn't call us best friends, but I can definitely feel a difference in the way they treat me. Progress" I said

"At least now you don't have to sing sad rejection songs in your room anymore" He said

My head shot up

"You should really close that window more often" He said with a wink

My face blushed a deep red

"You play guitar?" He asked

"Yeah. What about you? You play instruments?" I asked

"Na, I don't really want to waist my time on music. If Musa was here, she'd kill me" He said

I laughed

"Very true. And music is not a waist of time. Especially when all you do is sit there and draw" I said

He lifted head

"So I see I should be closing my window as well" He said  
>"What are you doing anyways? I always see you drawing or writing. What are you writing?" I asked<p>

"Cant tell you" He said

"So what can you tell me? I'm sitting here telling you all about myself and anytime I ask you something your always so secretive" I said

"Well what do you want to know?" He asked

"I don't know. What is it like to be Helia Knightly?" I asked

"It's okay" He said with a shrug

"Oh come on, your Helia Knightly. The great football courterback. Most popular guy in school. Top of his class. Every girl wants to be with you" I said

He looked up at me

"Every girl?" He asked

I looked down blushing, as he laughed.

"Where did you get all of this confidence of yours? I don't think I've ever seen you turn red" I told him

"It's not magic Flora. It's just a way of thinking. People with confidence, are people without insecurities. You're obviously very insecure" He said

"How do you do that?" I asked

"What?" He asked

"Read people" I said

"I can read you because you're just too easy" He said

"How am I too easy?" I asked, hands on hips

"Let's see. You turn red all too easily. You're always putting your hair in your face. And not to mention your voice" He said

"What about my voice?" I asked narrowing my eyebrows

"It's very light, unlike your old voice. Now I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying it's light" He said with a shrug

"Well, now I know one thing" I said

"What?" He asked

"You stare at me" I said trying to trigger his blush

He shrugged

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Now we know one thing though" He said

"What?" I asked

"YOU stare at ME" He said

There goes my cheeks again. Dang it he's right, I do blush a lot!

"Okay, I'm going to shut this window now" I said

"What? You don't want to talk to me anymore?" He asked sounding sarcastic

"Goodbye Helia" I said shutting it

**I'll post the next chapter by Saturday. I wonder how the whole boxer raid with go, and how the girls will take that Flora lives next door to Helia! **

**Thanks to everyone that helped me, love you guys! **


	9. Chapter 8

**Thanks to everyone that reviewed. If it weren't for you guys I wouldn't have the eagerness I do to keep writing! Thanks! Now that we're done with that little sappy moment…..**

**Chapter 8**

I got up the next morning, Saturday! Today was the day for my little dare. I have to admit, I'm actually more excited than nervous. I've seen Helia's room a million times…well…from a distance. But no matter, it still counts! I got up out of my bed, knowing that I had left the window open

"Morning Helia" I called

"Morning" He called back

"Did we have any English homework?" I asked poking my head out the window

"Nope" He replied getting up from his desk to go do something

"So what are you up to today?" He asked

"The girls are coming over later" I said

"That's cool. I got Football Practice" he said with a shrug

"Sounds like fun" I said

"Oh yeah cause running till we die sure sounds like a roller coaster of fun" He said sarcastically

"Ha-ha" I said back in a sarcastic way

"What can I say, I'm a natural comedian" He said

I turned around to walk toward the bathroom.

"But hey, isn't that what makes me SO irresistible?" He asked

I laughed shaking my head

"Oh yes, in fact, if you want me to I can go tell Kate all about your comedy styling" I said

"Dear god no. She's already shooting me with date requests during practices" He said rolling his eyes

"Oh I can definitely see that. One thing I picked up back in the days when Kate and I were friends, she always seems to get what she wants" I told him

"Yeah well, I am not caving" Helia said shaking his head

"That's right Helia, fight the power!" I said putting my fist up

Helia laughed.

I went over to my window and waved, then shut it.

I went into my bathroom and took a shower. When I got out I put on sweatpants and a graphic T. Saturday was comfy no matter who was coming over.

Rose walked into my room still in her pj's.

"Hey Rosalina" I said using her full name

"Rose!" She corrected

For some reason, Rose hated to be called Rosalina.

"Sorry! Hey ROSE" I said pronunciating on Rose

"Much Better" Rose said

"Thank you sir" I said saluting her

""Mam Flora, it's thank you MAM" Rose said

"Thank you mam" I said saluting her again

Rose giggled

"I love you Flora" She said getting in my lap and wrapping her arms around me

"I love you too Rose" I said kissing her forehead

I couldn't help but think of Mom. She used to do that to Rose all the time, and when I was young she used to do it to me too. Rose never truly did understand about Mom's death. One day, I'm going to have to tell her that our Mother wasn't coming back from "vacation" or better yet that there was actually no vacation at all. I don't know what I'm going to do…

Later that night it was time for the girls to come.

"Okay Rose are you ready to go?" I asked Rose

"Yeah! This is my very first sleepover!" Rose screamed with excitement

I laughed

I was taking Rose over to Jamie's house to sleepover. I didn't want her to feel let out or something when my friends came so I decided it's best for her to go to her friend.

"I know. Are you excited?" I asked

"Excited? I'm more than excited! I'm like…excited times 2!" Rose screamed jumping

I took her over to Jamie's house where she'd be spending the night.

"Rose, if you want to come home just call me on my cell and I'll come and take you home. Considering it's one house over I don't think it'll be to bad" I told her as the door opened. Helia had opened the door.

"Jamie, Rose is here" Helia called

I heard a scream then some pounding on the floor. Next thing I knew Jamie was standing in front of me huffing and puffing.

"Come on Rose, let's go upstairs to my room!" Jamie said pulling Rose's arm

"Wait! Rose! Behave yourself!" I called

"I know Flora!" She called back

I looked at Helia.

"Best of luck with my little hyper monkey" I said referring to Rose

"Best of luck with the girls" He said referring to the girls that call themselves the "Winx Club" I turned to walk away.

"And hey, just so you know, they've never been to my house, we usually hang at Bloom's house. They wont know a thing as long as you don't tell them" Helia said

"They'll know after tonight" I mumbled under my breath

"Huh?" Helia asked

"Nothing" I said shaking my head

We nodded at each other then I turned and ran back to my house. I went upstairs and sat down on my bed. I turned by computer on to check my emails.

Let's see…new email from Dad!

I began to read it:

Dear Flora,

Life here in the big Apple has been great! My business is doing so well, I think I'm making almost triple what I made back home! I'm sorry that I cant make it for Thanksgiving, but I'm sure I'll make it for Christmas, don't you worry. I hope that you're taking good care of your sister. I love you both very much, hugs and kisses! –Dad

I smiled as I read this. I was about to write back but then I heard a doorbell. I smiled shutting down my computer, and going downstairs.

I opened the door and saw the 5 girls standing before me with smiling faces.

"Hey" Layla said walking in

The rest of the girls followed.

"So, why are we here? I thought we were going to Helia's house for your little dare" Stella said lifting her eyebrows playfully

I led them up to my room.

"Actually," I said with a breath, walking over to my window

"We're already at his house" I said opening up the curtains to reveal Helia's window.

"I don't understand….unless…" Tecna said

"That's Helia's room? Right across from yours!" Bloom screamed with shock

I nodded with a laugh, shrugging my shoulders.

"Oh my god! So like, do you watch him get dressed in the morning?" Musa asked

"No!" I screamed

They all laughed

"Well have you ever seen him, ya know, undecent?" Layla asked

"No!" I screamed

"Do you ever try to see him undecent?" Stella asked

"Okay people let me get something straight, I have not, nor am I planning on seeing Helia Knightly naked" I screamed laughing

"Well this is gonna be easier then I expected" Layla said

"All we have to do is wait till he leaves for Football practice which is approximately 7:30, then we're good to go" Tecna said

"Awesome!" We all said slapping high five

"And now," Stella said collapsing on my bed and opening up a magazine

"We wait" She said

We all sat around my room. We all talked and read magazines. It was actually kind of fun, unlike anything I've ever done with Kate or Taylor back in middle school.

"I'm gonna check if Helia's still in his room" I said getting up

"yeah, he should be leaving soon, it's almost 7:30" Layla said

I nodded and walked over to my window

"Everybody crouch down to the side, I told him I wasn't telling you guys about our little sleeping arrangement" I told them

They all moved to the corner of my room, giving me the thumbs up

I took back the curtain and saw Helia right there on his desk writing something. He looked up and half smiled. I waved with a nervous smile. He motioned for me to open my window.

I lifted up the thin glass.

"Flora, I thought you didn't want them to know" Helia said

"Oh the girls are downstairs getting popcorn" I lied

"Oh well then I guess that buys us some time to talk" Helia said with a wink

My face burned red.

Stella was about to scream out in laughter, but Layla quickly covered her mouth.

"I guess it does. So what's up, I thought you were going to football practice" I said

"Trying to get rid of me already? Flora Linphea, I for one am shocked" Helia said sarcastically

I smiled and laughed

"Not what I meant" I said

"If you must know, I just slipped in the kitchen and twisted my ankle. It should be better by tomorrow but Coach said it's too risky to go to practice tonight, don't want to mess it up even more" Helia said

"Oh gosh, that's terrible" I said with concern

"Things happen" He said with a shrug

"That's a nice way of looking at things. Feel better" I said

He waved.

I waved back, then closed the window and shut the curtain.

"Okay, if my senses are correct, that is what we call a flirtatious wave" Stella said

"That was not a flirtatious wave! It was a wave!" I argued

"It so was! And the way he talked to you, he's so head over heals" Bloom said

"Okay Flora, dish it up, what's going on with you and Helia?" Layla asked

"Nothing" I said blushing

"Oh come on! You live next door to each other! He's probably seen you in your underwear! He's in love with you!" Bloom screamed

We all laughed

"Oh don't forget that we're going on vacation together to the mountains" I added

"You're doing what?" Musa asked

"I'm going on vacation….." I started to say again

"Ahhhhhh!" they all screeched interrupting me

"Seriously? I can imagine it now! You, him, he'll warm you up with a kiss" Stella said

"Okay fine, I admit, I do kind of sort of maybe like Helia.." I said

"Yes! She admits it! I have to say, you're way faster than Tecna was with Timmy" Musa said

Tecna blushed, embarrassed.

"Well have you been dropping any hints yet that you like him?" Stella asked

"Hints?" I asked confused

"Oh gosh, you're going to need all the help you can get with this" Layla said

"Help?" I asked

"Okay first things first. When was the last time you guys talked, besides just now?" Bloom asked

"A few minutes before you guys came. I was dropping my little sister at his house" I said

"Your sister is friends with Jamie? Wait is she that cute blonde girl that's always with Jamie?" Tecna asked

I nodded

"That's your sister? We should've known, you guys are identical" Layla said

"You know Jamie?" I asked

"Of course, she's Helia's sister" Tecna said

"So do you and Helia talk a lot?" Musa asked

"Almost everyday, we talk through the window though" I said

"That's so cute" Bloom said

"Okay, okay, enough about me and Helia. Let's talk about this dare. How in the world am I supposed to get it if he's home?" I asked

"Just wait till he falls asleep" Musa said with a shrug

"That might take a while, sometimes he stays up writing until 2:30 am, sometimes even later" I said

The girls smiled

"What?" I asked

"You watch him sleep?" Tecna asked

"What? No! I don't watch him sleep!" I said

"Then how would you know that he stays up?" Layla asked

"Sometimes, I stay up with him and we talk" I said in a small voice

"Awww! That's so romantic! That does it, I'm buiding a house next door to mine and Brandon is moving in so we can play neighbors!" Stella said

We all laughed

"Well then girlies, I guess we're spending the night" Bloom said

"Who's up for a movie?" I asked

They all nodded in agreement.

"What should we watch?" I asked

"John Tucker Must Die" they all said together then began laughing

"I love that movie!" I said

"I'll pop some popcorn" Musa said leaving my room.

About 3 seconds later she came back in

"So where exactly is the kitchen?" She asked

I laughed

"Come on" I told her leading her downstairs

We watched the movie for the next 2 hours. It was so funny! We also watched "A Cinderella Story" one of my favorite movies of ALL time!

By the time both movies were over, it was almost 1am.

"Maybe we should go check on Helia" Tecna said

"Good idea, come on" I said walking up the stairs

I took a quick check out my window and didn't see Helia.

"He's not there. What do you guys think? Should I go and get it over with?" I asked

They all nodded

I nodded then lifted my window up.

"Everybody stay quiet" Bloom whispered putting a finger to her lips

We all nodded

"How exactly are you getting over there?" Stella whispered tilting her head

"Ummm…okay so I didn't exactly thing my plan through" I said

I looked around and thought

"Okay so here's what we're going to do, I'm going to climb onto my roof and jump on that tree, then climb down onto his roof" I said

"That's dangerous!" Layla said

"I've done it before" I said shaking my head

"You've went into his room?" Layla asked

"No, I've climbed onto my roof, the whole tree thing, that's all new to me" I said

"You sure you want to do this?" Stella asked

I nodded without hesitation.

I stepped out onto my window ledge, then put my hands onto the roof, lifting myself up. When I got onto the roof I looked at the tree. I took a few steps toward the ledge, then looked down. Oh dear god, I'm a bit farther from the tree then expected. I leaned forward to jump, then went back afraid. Come on Flora, you can do this.

I shut my eyes and jumped. I quickly took hold of a branch.

I heard the girls let out a small yelp but quickly shut up.

"Okay Flora, I change my mind. Come back! This is dangerous. You can be in the Winx Club, believe me sweety you've already proved yourself" Bloom said

"No, I'm half way there already, there's no point in going back" I said

I jumped onto Helia's roof with a thump. I went to the ledge and put my legs down searching for Helia's window ledge. I found it and smoothly jumped into Helia's room. I gave the girls the thumbs up.

"And she sticks the landing" I said

"You rock Flora!" Musa whispered

I laughed

I turned around and looked around his room. Woah, not what I expected. For one thing, it's a lot bigger than it looked to be from my window. Also, it was very neat. The maids probably clean it for him.

I looked at his bed side table and saw a bunch of papers scattered around his desk. I guess now's my chance to see what Helia's always working on. He's not in sight, so I guess it really couldn't hurt to take a peak.

I looked down at his sketchbook first. I went through the pictures he drew. Most of them were of nature or animals. It was all so beautiful. Then I went down towards all of his scattered papers. Hmm….let's see. Oh my gosh! It's a poem!

Her eyes a forest green.

Her hair a golden blonde.

Her lips pink and alluring

Her heart I am so fond.

But who is this girl?

This girl I love so?

Who is this girl?

I need to know

I do know this girl

Her personality stands strong

It's the same girl

That I've loved for so long

Her eyes a forest green

I love her beautiful aura

Her lips so pink and alluring

My dear sweet…

I heard a click, turning my head toward the door. My eyes shot open. Helia!

I quickly put the poem down before I got a chance to finish it. I looked back and forth, then quickly ran towards Helia's bathroom.

I heard the door swing open and somebody walk in.

"Helia, enough writing for tonight. It's getting late sweety" I heard Mrs. Knightly say

"Fine, I'll take a shower then head to bed" I heard Helia say

"Okay but try to be a bit quiet, Jamie and Rose are sleeping" Mrs. Knightly said

"Got it" Helia said.

I heard the door shut, then footsteps toward the bathroom.

My eyes shot open. I looked around, then I stepped into the bathtub putting the white curtain in front of me. I started to pray, please don't let him see me! Please don't let him see me!

Helia walked into the bathroom. He stuck his hand into the shower and reached for the handle. I covered my mouth inching myself into the far end of the bathtub as much as I could. I held my breath so he wouldn't hear anything.

As Helia turned the water on my eyes shot open. The water began to soak me, my hair, my clothes, all sopping wet.

There was a long moment of silence. I decided to take a peak outside the curtain, to see if Helia was still there.

Oh, Helia was still there…stripping! He had his shirt off and was beginning to take his pants off. My eyes shot closed. Why did I get myself into this? I'm too innocent for this!

I saw a very muscular leg go into the shower. As Helia stepped into the shower I stepped out. I quickly grabbed the boxers that were on the floor on top of his pants and ran out the door without a sound. I was tracking water throughout his room. I looked toward his desk. The poem! I ran to the desk and ripped the paper out, sticking it in my pocket without even taking a second to look at it. I ran toward the window where the girls were waiting for me.

"Flora!" They whispered motioning for me to get back in there.

I quickly got onto the window ledge, boxers in hand.

"Hello, is somebody in here?" I heard

Helia!

Helia's voice startled me. My foot slipped and I fell of the ledge. Luckily, I caught myself. I gripped the edge of the window tightly, my legs dangling down.

The girls ducked their heads so Helia wouldn't see them.

"Hello?" I heard again

Helia began to walk toward the window. I squeezed my eyes shut.

"I'm probably just paranoid" I heard Helia say

I let a breath out. Once Helia walked away I lifted myself up again. I jumped onto the tree and jumped onto my roof. I slid down onto my roof then lowered myself into my room.

"Flora!" the girls screeched hugging me

I slammed the window behind me

"I got.." huff "The boxers" I said holding them up. I was huffing and puffing because of all my running and life threatening experiences I'd had in the past 8 minutes.

"Flora, why are you wet?" Musa asked

"I got in there and Helia came in so I ran to the bathroom. Then he came in and took a shower, but I was hiding in the shower. He didn't see me though because I escaped in time, grabbing his boxers in the process" I said holding them up

The girls began cracking up  
>"This my dear Flora, is legendary" Layla said putting her arm around me<p>

"Did you see anything?" Stella asked

I shook my head

"I closed my eyes when he undressed" I said

"Flora, you're so innocent" Bloom said as we all laughed

"I'm going to change my clothes" I said with a shiver because of the cold

I put my wet pants into the wash, starting up the machine.

I went back upstairs, where the girls were waiting for me.

"Flora Linphea, you have just completed the mission of the Winx Club" Bloom said

I smiled

"So this means?" I asked

"You are now apart of the Winx Club!" Stella screeched throwing her arms around me

I laughed

"You may have these boxers as a prize" Tecna said handing me Helia's boxers

"I don't really think I want them. Those just came off of Helia" I said

"Ew! Gross!" Tecna screamed tossing them on the floor. I laughed

"So what exactly is it that you do being a Winx girl?" I asked

"It basically just means that your apart of our club. It means that we're best friends no matter what…oh and we're the cooliest cause we have a club!" Stella said humorously making us all laugh

"Awesome, so I'm the cooliest now" I said

"I can get used to that" I said with a laugh

"Did you see anything interesting in Helia's room?" Musa asked

"Not really except I did see a….oh no!" I screamed running to the washing machine

"What?" The girls screamed running after me

"The poem! I had the poem in my pants!" I screamed

"What poem?" Bloom asked

I quickly stopped the machine, digging in for my pants. I went into the pocket digging around for the paper. I found it, all wet and breaking apart.

"No" I said throwing away the wet soggy paper

"What poem?" Layla asked shaking my shoulders

"Nothing" I said sadly

I just hoped, just hoped, that maybe aura was supposed to rhyme with Flora…..

**So there you have it. Hope you liked it! Somebody said that they didn't understand the whole Winx Club thing so I'll explain it. So the girls have a club of friends that call themselves the Winx Club. They want to put Flora into it, but she has to pass a dare first. Flora just passed it and is now in the Winx Club. Hope that was clear enough for you. If not don't worry about it, it's not such a big deal if you don't understand it.**


	10. chapter 9

**Hey! So today I'm home sick, so I have extra time to write! Here's the next chapter, enjoy!**

**Chapter 9:**

My eyes fluttered open. I looked around myself realizing that I was on my living room couch…along with 5 other people! Bloom was on the other couch, half on the couch, half on the floor. I'm guessing she got into that position because Tecna had probably kicked her off. Tecna lay across from her, her feet in Bloom's face. Layla was sleeping across from me, her head half off the couch and dangling off the edge. She looked comfortable. Musa was laying upside down on the single chair. How she could possibly fall asleep like that is beyond me. Now here's the million dollar question. Where was Stella Solaria. When I tell you try not to do a spit take. Stella Solaria was laying across the cofeetable snoring away. When I saw this I was like, ummmm…what. But now it's all coming back to me! After we watched "Grown Ups" the funniest movie ever, we were all high on sugar. Stella was laughing so hard at something Layla said, she suddenly fell back onto the coffee table….then she just crashed. That was one of the best…no, that was the best night of my life!

I checked the clock, 1:27 in the afternoon! Oh no, I have to go pick up Rose! I quickly got up, and in my PJ's, and with my hair all out of it's bun I ran towards the door. I heard a moan.

"Flora? Where are you going?" I heard Layla say

"I'll be right back okay" I whispered so I wouldn't wake the other girls.

I quickly shut the door behind me, running bare foot in the wet morning grass. I went to the front door, ringing the bell. As I waited for the door to open I tried to regain my composure. Soon enough, Helia came to open the door.

"Wow, you look beautiful today" He commented sarcastically

"Oh ha, ha, ha. I just got up" I said

"Really? I thought you were an early riser" Helia said

"I usually am when I'm not staying up till 4:50am" I said

"Okay well, you're a little late. My mom took Jamie and Rose to play at the park" He said

"Oh gosh, she must have thought I forgot about her" I said

"Don't worry about it, she seemed very happy that she got to stay with Jamie more" Helia said

"Oh yeah, that sounds like my Rose" I said with a laugh

I turned to walk back to my house.

"I guess I'll see you tonight" He said with a shurg, referring to the little conversations we have before bed.

"Do I have a choice?" I said. My back was to him as I walked, so he wasn't able to see the smile that was on my face.

I went back into my house, only to find all the girls up.

"Went to say good morning to your loooovvvveeerrrr" Stella taunted

"He is not my loooovvvvveeerrrr" I said back, mimicking her tone

"But he will be! Give it till Thursday" She said

"But we'll be in the mountains on Thursday" I said

"Exactly" All the girls said together

Soon enough, Wednesday had rolled around This had been so far, the best week of school EVER. I was always with people that loved me, in every single class. I no longer felt alone. At lunch, I was sitting with the girls and their boyfriends which are by the way so super sweet. Even Riven has a bit of a sweet side I never saw before. They were all nice to me, including me in. At gym, I not only was not the last to be picked, but I was the first! Layla chose me!

At the end of the day I got my backpack which was pretty much empty. All that was in it was a book I had to read over Thanksgiving.  
>"Hey Flo, ready to go?" Stella asked joining me by my locker with Bloom and Musa. She was swinging her keys in her hands.<p>

"Yeah. Layla and Tecna not coming today?" I asked

"Na, they're getting a ride with Timmy and Nabu" She said

"Cool, yeah let's go" I said following them out to Stella's car. Why Stella was the one with the car, again, beyond me.

"Shotgun!" Bloom screamed hopping into the front seat.

I got into the back seat with Musa. Stella drove us around….almost crashing us…again. Whenever I get into a car with Stella I feel as though I always have some new adventure. Stella pulled up to my house.

"Thanks" I said getting out

"Have fun on your vacation…of loooovvvvveee" She taunted

"I'm not going on a vacation of love!" I screamed

"Are too!" She said starting the engine

"Bye Flora, see you on Monday!" Bloom said

"Bye. Happy Thanksgiving" I said

"you too, we'll call you! If anything happens with you know who, you better tell us!" Musa said

I laughed, waving as they drove off. Instead of going toward my house, I went straight toward the Knightly's house. I went up to the door and knocked. Mrs. Knightly answered.

"Hi sweety" She said greeting me

I walked into the house.

"Hi. Thanks for driving Rose home today. I'll pick the girls up on Monday" I told her

"Thank you. I'll get the girls" She said

She went upstairs, toward Jamie's room. Rose came down with Jamie, Mrs. Knightly holding her backpack. I took the backpack from her hands.

"Hi sweety" I said when I saw Rose

"Bye Jamie, I'll see you tonight" Rose said waving

"Oh yes, that's right. We will be seeing you tonight! Are you psyched to go on vacation Flora?" Mrs. Knightly said

"Oh yes. A good time off of school. I love school, I love to go, but a vacation doesn't sound so bad" I said

Mrs. Knightly laughed

"Funny, Helia said the same thing" Mrs. Knightly said

"Well, we better go get packing. See you tonight say, 7:30ish?" I said

"Sounds good" Mrs. Knightly said

Rose took my hand as we walked out.

Once we got inside I saw my Grandma's and Grandpa's suitcases in the front hallway.

"Ready I see" I said

"Of course, now you better get ready" My grandma said pointing upstairs. I went upstairs, better start with Rose first. I went with her into her room, pulling out her Hello Kitty suitcase.

"Okay we have to pack enough stuff for 5 days" I told her

"Way ahead of you Flora" Rose said walking over to her drawers.

"Rose what are you…."

Rose opened her top drawer, took out an arm full of stuff and put it into her suit case.

"Okay, I'm done packing!" She said in her high pitched voice.

I looked open mouthed at what she had done, then burst out in laughter.

"What?" She asked

"That's not how you pack" I told her shaking my head

Rose crossed her arms

"But it was awfully cute" I told her

She smiled, liking my answer.

"Okay, let's fix…this" I said

I put my hair up into a messy bun, then began to pile things out and fold them back into her drawers. I finally got all of her stuff in!

"We need 6 shirts, they have to be warm" I told her

I went into her drawer and took out her 6 cutest shirts, then set them out for her to approve.

"I like them" Rose said

Then I went into her closet and got out 3 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of leggings, and a pair of sweatpants.

"Why so much pants?" She asked

"There's going to be snow there sweety, I don't want you to get a pair wet, then be pantsless in the 20 degree weather" I told her

"Why not! That sounds like fun!" She screamed

"Being pantsless?" I asked raising an eyebrow

"Yeah! Sometimes when I go to Jamie very early on Sunday mornings Helia is pantsless and he looks like he's having fun" Rose said smiling

"Okay, note to self don't take Rose to Jamie's house on Sunday mornings" I said out loud

Jeez Helia, can you save a little girl's innocents?

I neatly placed the pants and shirts into the suitcase. I threw in a bunch of warm socks, underwear, and her pink bunny slippers. I put in some sweatshirts, hats, and gloves. I put in her warm boots, and some pajamas.

"Grandma told me that the place we're going is kind of fancy shmancy for dinner so I have to pack you a few dresses" I told her

"Oooo! Oooo! Pack my pink one!" She squealed

"Okay, okay" I told her

"Try not to explode" I said

"I'll try" She said with a shrug

I packed in her 4 cutest dresses, knowing for sure that we weren't making it for dinner tonight so why bother packing extra.

"You are done" I said zipping up the packed bag

"We still have an hour Rose" I told her laughing

I let her room and went into my room. I opened the window to let some fresh air in…and for other reasons…..

I took out my suit case and began to pack. Hmmm….let's see. I paced in 6 warm shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of leggings, and 2 pairs of sweatpants. I put in a few t-shirts to wear at night to sleep. I put in some socks, some underwear, some bras, and some tank tops. I put in gloves, and hats, and scarves. I put in a sweatshirt in case I get cold. Then I threw in warm knit boots, my hair brush, and my fancy heels for dinners. I put in 4 different dresses, all very cute and elegant. I put in some extra bows for Rose in case we need more, and a few bobby pins.

I shut the suit case, zipping it up.

"Hey" I heard

"Hey Helia" I said

"My mom said that you guys should come out, we're loading the car" He said

"W'll be right over" I told him

I took mine and Rose's suitcases, bringing them down stairs.

"Grandma, they want us out there" I told her

"Alright. Paul, we're leaving!" She called out to my Grandpa.

I opened the door with my hip, my grandma and granpa's heavy bags in my hand. I was fighting the door to stay open, unable to use my hands.  
>"Let me take those" Helia said coming up to our door and taking the 2 bags with ease.<p>

"You make me feel so weak" I told him shaking my head

"The usual response would be, thank you" He said sarcastically

"Sorry, thank you" I told him smiling

I took Rose's bag in my hand, and rolled mine outside. Rose ran out of the house toward Jamie.

"Not so fast Rosey. Have you forgotten something?" I asked her

"No" She said innocently, knowing exactly what she had forgotten.

I held out her pink zip up jacket from GAP.

She put her arms through the holes, zipping it up herself.

"Okay now I have a very serious question for you, pink gloves, or purple gloves" I asked her in my serious voce, making her laugh

"Pink!" She said

"That's what I thought" I said

I put her pink gloves on that had a small bow at the ends of each.

"Now you're free" I told her

"yay! Jamie!" She screamed running at Jamie

I walked over to where, Mrs. Knightly, Mr. Knightly, my grandparents, and Helia stood.

"Ma, it's simple. I'll just take the other car. This way we'll have more seats" He said

"I don't know if I'm comfortable with you driving in a place you're not familiar with" Mrs. Knightly said

"I'm telling you Mom, I'll be fine" He said patting her back for comfort.

"Oh alright" she said

Mr. Knightly smiled

"Good luck" He said handing him the keys.

Jamie ran over to Helia

"Helia's driving! Yay! I want to ride with Helia!" Jamie screamed

"Of course you can" Helia said holding out his hand

Jamie slapped him high five

"Rose too!" Jamie screamed

Rose nodded excitedly

"Okay, but only if Flora comes too" Rose said taking my hand

"That's perfectly even. 4 in one car, 4 in the other" Mr. Knightly said

"Good with me" Helia said

"Alright, let's load up the car" I said with a shrug

4 hours stuck in a car with Helia, that doesn't sound so bad!

Once the car had Rose, Jamie's, Helia's, and my stuff in the trunk, we were ready to go.

"Okay then Flora, I guess we'll see you when we get there" My Grandma said

I nodded smiling.

"I'm still unsure about this, but it's your vacation so….." Mrs. Knightly said

"Don't worry about it, I'll be in the car. If Helia decides to do anything stupid, I promise you I will be there to slap him" I told her

"Now I'm assured" Mrs. Knightly said smiling

"Oh, ha, ha, ha. I'm not going to do anything stupid" Helia said shaking his head.

"We better get going, it's almost 7:45" Mr. Knightly said

"Okay, bye Jamie! Stay safe!" Mrs. Knightly said kissing her daughter then getting into her car. I helped my Grandparents into the back seat, shutting the door behind them.

Helia began to talk to his dad while I strapped Rose and Jamie into their car seats.

"Now you know how to get there correct?" Mr. Knightly asked

"Yes, if you take route 87 then turn onto exit 45 you'll pretty much be on a clear path" Helia said

"Perfect" Mr. Knightly said getting into his car. He started up the engine, then drove away. That left Helia, Jamie, Rose, and I. After clicking Rose's seatbelt down, I shut the door behind me. Then I got into the passenger seat of the small BMW.

"We should arrive at the hotel at about 11:45" He said

I nodded, putting my seat belt on. He started the engine up, then put the car in drive. He pulled out of the drive way then began to drive. The other car was already ahead o us, so we couldn't see them.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Jamie said

"Yeah! I cant wait for it to start snowing! Then we could make snow angels, or a snow man" Rose said

"Or we can have a snowball fight" Jamie added

Helia put some music on.

"Road trip!" Rose screamed

Helia and I burst out into laughter.

"Where do you get this stuff?" I asked her

"From my brain, duh!" Rose said as if it weren't obvious

I shook my head.

Look at us, me and Helia in the front, the 2 little girls in the back. I almost felt as though we were like a little family. I was the mom and Helia was the dad and Rose and Jamie were our chil…..what am I saying! Block that thought from my head….

Some time went by and it was about 9o'clock. Some how, the girls were still up talking and joking with Helia and I. The trip so far has been so much fun! Helia and I were talking the whole time, about school, about friends, about sports, about all kinds of things.

"Helia, I'm hungry" Jamie said

"Just wait a little bit, we'll be at the hotel soon" He said

"I can't wait that long! My tummy is rumbling" She said dramatically patting her stomach.

"I'm a little hungry too" Rose chimed in

"Let's just go into McDonalds or something" I said with a shrug

"Fine, but I'm not going in. We'll go in the drive thew" He said

"Yes! Happy Meals!" Jamie screamed excitedly

Helia turned into the first McDonalds we saw. We went on the line that was going to the drive threw. There was only 1 car in front of us.

"What should I get?" He asked

"2 happy meals for the girls, a veggie burger, fries, and a strawberry milkshake for me, and whatever you want" I said

"Isn't that a bit much?" He asked raising an eyebrow

"Just order the food" I said

"Whatever" He said driving up to the place that you order

"Hello, how may I help you?" I heard

"Can I have 2 happy meals, a veggie burger, fries, a strawberry milkshake, a double cheeseburger, and another order of fries" Helia said

"Okay, please pull up for your food" I heard

We pulled up, then waited for a few minutes

Our food was finally ready. Helia took it and passed out everybody's food.

"Your total is 14.99" The guy said

I went into my wallet.

"Let me get it" Helia said taking out a 20 dollar bill

"Thanks, I'll pay you back" I told him

"No you won't" He said as he got his change back

He drove out of the parking lot, getting back on the street.

"Here girls" I said passing them their happy meals

I opened up my veggie burger, taking a big bite out of it. I took a fry out of the little box that I got and washed it down with a sip of strawberry milkshake.

"Mmmm" I moaned tasting the awesomeness of the meal

Helia gave me a look as he ate his cheeseburger with one hand and drove with the other.

"What?" I asked, food still in my mouth

"Okay, by far, the only girl in the world that would eat a burger and fries in front of a guy" Helia said laughing

"What? It's quality food!" I said waving a fry at him

"Amen to that" Helia said waving his cheeseburger

"So is this considered doing something stupid?" I asked referring to the way he was driving, one handed.

"No, this is called living the life" Helia said turning the corner and getting back on the highway

"Living the life sure is fun" I said slurping my milkshake

"Can I have a sip?" Rose asked

I gave her my milkshake and she began to slurp it up.

"With our little stop we may not get to the hotel until midnight" Helia said

"That's fine. I expect that in the next hour or so the girls will go to S-L-E-E-P" I said spelling it out so they wouldn't argue

Rose gave me back the milkshake. When I gave it to her it was half way done. Now, it was empty!

"Rose! You're a monster!" I screamed turning around to face them

Rose and Jamie started laughing.

"Rose, your wish just came true. It's snowing" Helia said turning the windshield wipers on to block the snow of the wind shield

I turned around to look. It was coming down pretty hard.

"Snow!" Rose said pressing her face against the cool glass.

"It's getting pretty cold. We're hitting the mountain ranges" Helia said

"How many degrees is it?" I asked

"As of now it's 27 degrees and dropping" He said

"Woah" I said

"I'm cold" Rose said

"Helia turn up the heat. Do you have any blankets in the car or something?" I asked

"Yes because I just happen to keep spare blankets with me. Right here in my back pocket" Helia said sarcastically

I gave him a look. He sighed.

"I think I packed a blanket in my suit case" He said

"Thank you" I said

"Do you want me to pull over?" he asked

"No, keep driving. I want to make it there by midnight" I told him

"How are you going to get it?" He asked

I unbuckled my seat belt then climbed into the backseat.

"And my mom told you to watch if I do something stupid" Helia said shaking his head

I put one leg over the seat into the trunk, then put my other one over and stepped into the trunk. Jamie and Rose were laughing and pointing.

"Which one is yours?" I asked

"The black one" Helia called

I dug into the front pocket, feeling around for blankets. Instead, I found little girl's underwear…..

"Umm…Helia. Care to explain?" I said with a laugh holding up the small pink underwear.

He looked into the rear view, seeing what I was holding up.

"Those aren't mine! They're Jamie's!" He screamed as we all started cracking up

"Just making sure" I said wiping a tear out of my eye from laughing so hard.

I felt around and finally found something soft. I pulled it out, finding a soft blue blanket.

I climbed over the seat and into the back seat.

"Here girls" I said wrapping it around the 2 girls

"Thanks Flora" Jamie said cuddling into the soft cotton

I climbed back into the front seat, buckling my seat belt again.

"Mission accomplished" I said

"That was so illegal" Helia said shaking his head

"It may have been illegal, but at least the girls aren't going to freeze anymore" I told him

"What time is it?" I asked

"Quarter after 10" He said

"We're making good time. We have about an hour and a half left" I said with a smile

Helia looked in the rear view mirror.

"Check it out, the girls are out cold" He said motioning his head backwards

I turned around, Helia was correct. The 2 girls were now sleeping, cuddling into their warm blanket.

"They're so cute" I whispered so I wouldn't wake them

"You're such a mother" Helia whispered

"I am not!" I said back

"It's not a bad thing" Helia said with a shrug

"Well then…thanks. You're not bad with kids either" I said

"I know, it's such a turn on isn't it" He said sarcastically

"Actually yes, I think a guy that is good with kids is cute" I told him

Suddenly, my ace turned bright red. Umm…Flora! Did you just tell him you're still into him! There was suddenly an awkward silence.

"So…." Helia said trying to break the silence

Suddenly my phone vibrated. Yes! Saved by the bell!

"Hello?" I said answering the phone

"Flora! Details, I need details!" I heard on the other end

Stella.

"Stella! Give me the phone!" I heard in the back round

"Layla! Wait! I want to talk to her about Helia!" I heard Stella's voice

"Just put her on speaker phone!" I heard Bloom scream to try to settle the argument. Classic Bloom.

"You guys" I said

"Hey Flora" They all said casually as if I hadn't heard that whole conversation they'd had

"What's up?" I asked

"Nothing. Just hanging at Stella's house" Bloom said

"The question is, what's up with you and pretty boy" I heard Stella say

"Is that all you care about?" Tecna asked her

"I'm sorry if I'm a love addict! It's like a movie!" She said

I started laughing

"Well you know that thing that you wanted to talk about with me," I said referring to Helia

"That thing? Why not just say Helia?" Layla asked

"He's probably with her" Bloom said

"Bloom's correct. Like 2 centimeters" I said. If I didn't say Helia's name he would have no idea that I was talking about him.  
>"Seriously?" Musa asked<p>

"Are you guys like…in bed together?" Stella asked

"Okay Stella Solaria you are so sick minded!" Bloom screamed

"These are questions I want to know answers to!" Stella screamed

I was cracking up.

"so…are you?" Layla asked

"I'm still in the car" I said

"You're riding in the car with him! Where are you sitting? Passenger seat? Is he driving?" Stella asked

"I'm sorry Flora, excuse Stella's constant match making" Tecna said

"Oh come on Tec, all my match making skills worked on you and Timmy in Junior Year" Stella said

"Well…okay she has me there, but still" Tecna said

"Haha! Victory!" Stella screamed

I burst out laughing. Stella is such a nut!

"It's getting late, I think I'm going to head home" I heard Bloom say

"Flora, have a great time" Bloom said

"You too! Happy Holidays you guys!" I said

"Bye!" They all screamed together

"That was an…interesting conversation" Helia said with his eyebrow raised

"We were just talking about….Brandon's…fish!" I said making it up off the top of my head. I turned to look out the frozen window.

"You're lying" Helia said a singy tone

"Am not!" I lied again

"Yes you are. For 1 thing you're a lot smarter than how you just sounded, and 2, Brandon doesn't have a fish" Helia said

Change the subject, change the subject!

"So you think I'm smart" I said a smile appearing on my face

"With all that studying that you do I would think so" Helia said

Mission accomplished!

"Look at this snow" Helia said trying to clear the windshield to see where he was going

"It's like a blizzard" I said

"I can barely see where I'm going" he said squinting his eyes

I shivered, putting my frost bit hands into my pocket

"Good god it's cold" I said

"I would think so, we're down to 18 degrees. As we head up mountain it's even getting worse. They predicted it to be 13 degrees over there" Helia said

"Oh my god" I said shaking my head

"I cant see where I'm going. I'm going to stop here by this Starbucks. You go in and get a coffee or something to warm you up while I figure out where the hell we should go" Helia said.

I nodded. Helia pulled into the parking lot, taking an empty parking space.

"Listen to me, when I go in you better not leave this car. The girls are inside of it" I told him seriously

"Just go in, I can handle this" he said

I went into the Starbucks and got on line. I ordered 2 of the biggest coffee cups they had. Helia probably wanted some. After I paid, I went back outside. Helia was waiting in the car. I got in and handed him his cup.

"Thanks" He said taking a sip of the hot substance.

I got into the car placing my cup in the cup holder as I buckled up.

"Do you know where we're going now?" I asked

"Yeah, we should be there in a half hour, 45 minutes at most." He said starting up the engine and getting back onto the rode.

"I just got off the phone with my mom. She said that they checked us in and when we get there we should just go to the front desk to get our keys. Apparently we were the last to arrive" He said

"Who else is there" I asked

"My 3 aunts, and my 3 uncles, my cousin Chelsea and her husband and baby, and my grandparents. We're basically we're basically the only kids there, sort of couting Chelsea. She's 27, but she's a kid at heart" He said

"Oh gosh, that's a lot of people" I said

"They're nice….mostly" Helia said with a shrug

I checked the clock, 11:15. I yawned.

"Fingers crossed we get there soon" I said

"Getting tired?" He asked

"Oh yeah. Thank god for this coffee" I said taking a sip

I looked forward and saw like 30 cars in front of us.  
>"What the heck" I said<p>

"Awesome. We hit traffic" Helia said hitting his head on the wheel.

I moaned

"There's probably a car accident in front of us" Helia said

"You know what, there's a moral to this little trip of ours. I learned that if you do go to the mountains, you should probably leave earlier than 7:45. What did you learn Helia" I asked

"Well I learned that you have the appetite bigger than me, times 2" Helia said

I wacked him on the arm.

"Gee thanks" I said

We sat in the car for another hour till we saw a sign that said "you are approximately 25 minutes from Snowy Hills hotel"

We started driving around, looking for the hotel.

"I think it's up this way" Helia said taking us onto this path

"You're probably rig….HELIA!" I screamed moving my foot out of my space and onto the break. A moose had just walked across the street, and we were about to hit it.

"Holy crap!" Helia screamed clutching his heart

"Oh my god! I think I just saved that moose!" I said

"But of course there's a moose in our way" Helia said

The moose just stood there, not moving an inch.

Helia began to honk the horn, trying to get it to move.

"Why in the world is there a moose?" I asked

"I'll tell you why. Because we're in a rush" Helia said

"Just go around it" I told him

"I can't. the car wont make it without hitting the moose" He said

Helia sighed, opening up his door.

"Helia! Don't go out there! Are you insane? It'll think you're a predator! It could have rabies!" I screamed

"Well we have to get rid of it somehow!" He said back

I stared nervously as he walked a little towards it. He was motioning for it to move.

The moose made a noise, then began to run.

"Ahhhhh!" I screamed

Helia's eyes bulged out, running back towards the car. He slammed the door behind him.

"Drive! Drive! Drive!" I screamed at him

He quickly put the car into drive, then went forward as fast as he could.

"Oh my god, that thing almost attacked you!" I said

"Well it's gone. Maybe now we could get to that hotel, because all I want to do is get in there, get the rooms, and go to bed!" Helia said

"How in the world did the girls sleep through this?" I asked

"I'm jealous" He said

"Look over there! There's a sign! Snowy Hills!" I screamed excitedly. It was now 1:10am.

"Thank you god! Thank you god!" Helia screamed as we turned in. Helia drove up to the front, where a man came to valet the car. The man got a cart out and loaded all of our stuff onto it.

I took Rose out of the car, covering her in my jacket so she wouldn't get hit with snow. Helia took Jamie, holding her head down so she was comfortable.

We walked in, automatically going toward the front desk. Helia stated his name, and the lady handed him 2 keys. One was for 613, one was for 614.

"Right this way sir" The bellman said pointing us toward the elevator

"I'll take Jamie into one room" Helia said

"No, I'll take Rose and Jamie into my room. You can have the other to yourself. Believe me, you deserve it after what we just went through" I said

"Thank you" he said

The bellman led us toward our rooms, which were across from each other. Once all the bags were settled in their appropriate rooms, I took Jamie from him.

"Goodnight" Helia said

"Goodnight" I said back going into my room.

There were 2 beds in the room. I put Jamie and Rose on one, then I went on the other. I didn't even change, all I did was kick off my shoes, get in the bed, and automatically fall asleep.

**Wasn't that a fun little rode trip? I hope you liked it!**


	11. Chapter 10

**I got insane reviews! Thank you so much! Oh and by the way,**

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**Thanks for always reviewing!**

**Chapter 10:**

"Flora" I heard a soft voice in my head

"Flora" I heard it again

My eyes fluttered open, only to see 2 innocent looking little girls before me.

I moaned, rubbing at my eyes.

"Flora, we're hungry" Rose said

"Rose sweety, what time is it?" I asked

"Umm…..7:36" She said

"I'll bring you down for breakfast in a little bit. Just go back to sleep okay?" I said, feeling my eyes droop back clothes

"Please Flora, we're really hungry" Rose said

I opened my eyes, sitting up.

"Oh alright" I said putting my fingers through her thick blonde curls.

"Yay!" Rose said jumping up and down

"How long have you girls been up?" I asked them, looking around the hotel room.

"Since 6 o'clock" Jamie said an energetic smile on her face

"You girls want to go downstairs in your pj's?" I asked them with a laugh

I got up off the bed, walking over to their suit cases. I took out each of their outfits.

I dressed Rose first. I dressed her in jeans, and purple shirt. There was a pink bow coming out of the top. Then, I put on her cute little boots, and made her put on her white sweater.

Then I dressed Jamie. I dressed her in a cute purple dress, with black leggings underneath. The dress had little ruffles. I put her white ballet flats on, and put a black sweater over her dress.

"Come here munchkin, I have to brush out your hair" I told Rose holding out her brush.

She nodded, taking a seat in my lap. I brushed out her hair, then put a cute little pink head band in.

Rose happily got up and walked over to Jamie who had naturally straight hair, so didn't need any brushing or styling.

"Wow! You girls look gorgeous!" I said over dramatically

They to walk around the room, posing.

"Let's go down now" Rose said

"Hold on, I have to get dressed" I said

I took my stuff and went into the bathroom to get changed.

I put on a pair of jeans, and a cream turtle neck sweater that went down a bit over my waist. I added a brown belt, and brown feather earrings. I pulled on my brown boots, and left my hair out.

I splashed some water onto my face, to wake myself up. I brushed my teeth, then left the bathroom.

"Let's go wake up Helia now!" Jamie said

"No sweety, I think we're just going to leave Helia to sleep" I told her

"But I don't want him to miss any fun" Jamie said

"Believe me, we're doing him a favor right now" I told her

I took the key to the room and stuck it in my pocket. I opened the door, and the girls automatically zoomed out of it, racing to see who would push the elevator button.

Jamie and Rose both pushed it at the same time.

"Girls! Wait for me!" I said running after them

I took their hands just as the elevator doors opened.

The 3 of us went into the elevator. I pressed the button that read "lobby"

"I can't wait to see my Grandma!" Jamie said excitedly as we went down

"Me too!" Rose said smiling

"Maybe our Grandma's can be best friends, just like us!" Jamie said

"That would be so awesomely awesome!" Rose said

I heard the little ding, as the doors slid open.

"Where are they?" Rose asked

"They're probably in the dining room…wherever that is" I said looking around for somebody that might know

I tapped on a women's shoulder.

"Excuse me miss, do you know where the dining room is?" I asked

"Down that hall, to the right" She said pointing

"Thank you" I said

"My pleasure honey" She said with a warm smile

I walked down the large hallway, trying to find some sort of room that looked like a dining room. A man dressed in a white t-shirt with black apron and a tray in his hand walked passed me and into a room. That must be the dining room!

I stepped into the dining room, looking around for any sign of a familiar face. There were tons of round tables in the dining room, where numerous families sat and ate their breakfasts. There were many children running around, and many adults chatting by the tables. All in all, it was a very family friendly place. I definitely liked this place.

"Flora! I see Grandma and Grandpa!" Rose screamed pointing to a round table marked table 6. Jamie and Rose broke free of my hand, running toward them. My Grandma turned around and caught Rose in her arms. Rose jumped onto her lap and wrapped her arms around her. Jamie did the same with her own Grandma. It was so cute, and I could tell that both Grandmothers were very happy.

I smiled as I walked over to the table.

"Flora" My Grandma said when she saw me

"Hi Grandma" I said, kissing her cheek

"Good morning Flora, I did not expect you here after you arrived so late. What time did you end up arriving?" Mrs. Knightly said

"A little after 1. I didn't expect to be here this morning either, but the girls woke me" I said

"Where's Helia?" Mr. Knightly asked

"Still sleeping" I said

"Wow, you are pretty" A brunet girl I've never seen before said

"Umm…thank you…" I said

"Oh sorry. I'm Chelsea, Helia's cousin" She said

"Oh that's right! Helia told me about you!" I said

She pat the empty seat next to her, motioning for me to take a seat.

"I can tell we'll be good friends" She said with a smile

I could tell Chelsea was very friendly…and I've only known her for exactly 13 seconds.

"This is my husband Justin" She said pointing to the man on the other side of her

"Hi" I said with a wave

"Helia told me you had a daughter" I said

"Yup, that's our little Charlotte over there" She said pointing to a little baby in Jamie's Grandpa's arm.

"awww, she's so cute" I said

"Flora, this is my sister Christine, and my brothers Mick and Jonah" Mrs. Knightly said pointing to 3 adults sitting next to her

I smiled with a wave

"This is Christine's husband Conner, this is Mick's wife Lizzie, and this is Jonah's wife Nina" Mrs. Knightly said pointing to the remaining 3 people

"Hello" I said with a smile

"Now that we're all introduced, why don't we order" Chelsea said handing me a menu

I looked at all the delicious things, and finally made my decision.

A waiter came over with a pad and paper.

"What can I get for you?" He asked

"I'd like one of everything" Rose said seriously, putting her menu down

"I'll have the same" Jamie said putting her menu down as well

Our whole table, including the waiter burst out laughing.

"She'll have a short stack blueberry pancakes" I told the waiter

The waiter nodded writing it down

"The other little one will have the same" Mrs. Knightly said

The waiter nodded writing it down

Everybody else ordered, then it came down to me.

"Hmmm…I'll have a cheese omelet with mushrooms and tomatoes, with absolutely no meat in it" I told him

"Is that like an allergy or something?" He asked

"No, I'm a vegetarian" I said

He nodded

"Your food will be out ASAP" The waiter said leaving the table

"Vegetarian huh?" Chelsea asked

I nodded

"I could never be a vegetarian. If I was I'd be like man I wish I could have some steak…oh crap I can't have any!" Chelsea said

I started laughing

"You tried to be a vegetarian for like a week…then you gave in when we were in that restaurant" Justin said

"Oh yeah, that was funny. Good times" Chelsea said

Wow those two are a perfect match.

"What do you guys want to do after breakfast?" Mrs. Knightly asked

"We could go snow tubing!" Chelsea said

"I'd be into that" Jonah said

"Yeah, we can race, like old times" Mick said

"That sounds good" Mr. Knightly said

I nodded

"That would be awesome, it sounds like fun" I said

"Oh believe me, it is" Chelsea said

Soon, the waiter came and brought all of our breakfasts. My omelet was delicious, so delicious I decided to order another!

"So Flora, how exactly did you and your family end up in our little family vacation?" Justin asked

"Well, we're the neighbors, and we're family friends. Mr. and Mrs. Knightly were nice enough to invite us" I said

"Our pleasure" Mrs. Knightly said

"Thanks again" My Grandpa said

I was taking the last bite of my second omelet, savoring the delicious flavor.

"Wow, I cannot believe you actually just finished that" Chelsea said

I smiled

"Eating is one of my many hobbies" I said making her laugh

"Well I'm full" Christine said pushing her empty plate forward

"Let's wait a little to digest, then we'll hit the slopes" Jonah said excitedly

I nodded

"I'm just going to go upstairs and see if Helia's awake" I said

They nodded.

I went to the waiter and asked if he could put together a little breakfast in a container that I could take upstairs. He nodded, handing me a container filled with breakfast. I thanked him, heading toward the elevator.

I went up to our floor, making my way to Helia's room. I lightly knocked on the door.

"Helia?" I said

The door opened, to reveal a very tired looking Helia. He was dressed in his pants from yesterday…and no shirt. Well this just got awkward. I couldn't help but stare at his toned chest.

"I brought you some breakfast" I said handing him the container

"Thanks" He said walking back in. He grabbed a shirt and put it on.

I stood by the door, unsure what to do.

"You can come in" he said with a nod

I smiled, walking into the hotel room. It was almost identical to mine.

"So how did you sleep?" I asked

"Okay" He said taking a seat on the bed

I went over to the desk chair and sat down.

"How are you not tired?" He asked me

"The girls woke me up today at 7:30am. They forced me to get up and take them downstairs to eat something" I said with a shrug

"Those girls, I swear. God forbid they don't have food in their stomachs every 4 hours" Helia said taking a fork full of scrambled eggs.

I laughed.

"Thanks by the way" He said

"For what?" I asked

"For taking them both into your room" He said

I smiled with a shrug

"Seems you needed the sleep more than I did" I said

He nodded, taking another bite.

"So, I met your family. You're right by the way. Chelsea is young at heart" I said

Helia smiled

"We're going snow tubing now, if you want to get up and ready you can come" I said in a singy tone

He laughed

"Let me finish my breakfast first" He said

I got up and took the blueberry muffin out of the container, taking a bite out of it.

"Hey! Get your own muffin!" Helia said trying to grab it back

"I'm helping you finish your breakfast!" I said with muffin still in my mouth

He kept grabbing at it, so I licked the whole thing.

"Flora! You are so nasty!" He said with a laugh

"Hey, I may be nasty, but now I'm nasty with a blueberry muffin" I said taking another bite out of it

Helia finished his breakfast, throwing the empty container in the trash.

"So are you going to leave, or should I just get dressed right here in front of you" He asked

"See ya" I said quickly making my way out of the room

I shut the door behind me, waiting for him in the hallway.

Five minutes later Helia came out of the room dressed in jeans and a pull over sweatshirt.

"Ready?" I asked

He nodded, walking toward the elevator. We both got in the elevator, our hands shooting out at the same time to press the lobby button. My hand lightly brushed against his, causing me to immediately pull back. Helia pushed the button.

"You know I don't bite" Helia said

A deep red appeared on my cheeks.

I stormed out of the elevator once the doors opened.

"Well if it isn't sleeping beauty" Chelsea said when she saw us coming

The whole group was sitting on couches in the lobby. It was very nice and peaceful there.

"Beauty? Awww Chelsea, I'm flattered" Helia said sarcastically

"Come here!" She said holding out her arms

Helia went and hugged her, then moved on to hug the rest of his family.

"Now come on, let's go!" Jamie said pulling on Helia's arm

"To the mountain!" Mick screamed

The 3 aunts, Mrs. Knightly, my grandparents and Helia's grandparents all stayed put.

"We're just going to stay in here and talk. You guys can go back out, but be back in time for lunch!" Mrs. Knightly said as the rest of us ran outside.

Helia's dad rented us all snow tubes. He didn't rent tubes for Jamie and Rose, because they were just going to ride with one of us. We began to walk up the mountain to get to the top. Rose sat in the tube I was pulling, so she wouldn't have to walk.

"Faster! Go!" She screamed

"But of course Master" I said

Rose only weighed like 50 pounds so it wasn't much of a hassle.

I looked to my right and saw that Helia was doing the same to Jamie.

"I feel your pain" I said

Helia looked at me and smiled, rolling his eyes.

"Wooooo!" I heard

I turned my head and saw Chelsea in a tube, being pulled by Justin.

"The things I do for this women" Justin said

I started laughing.

We finally reached the top, where there were 4 trails. The first was the least scary, the last being the most extreme.

"What do you say James? How about we try the extreme?" Helia said

"Oh yeah" Jamie said slapping his a high five

The 2 walked over to the last trail, Helia getting in first, then Jamie on top of him. Helia kicked of using his feet then they began to go down the steep hill.

"Ahhhhh!" Jamie squealed on the way down

Helia was smiling, holding onto Jamie tightly.

He looked kind of hot….

"Can we try that?" Rose asked

"Umm…I don't know…" I said nervously, looking down at the drop

Helia and Jamie were now running back up the mountain.

"I'll ask Helia if he can take me" Rose said running toward Helia

I saw her say something to him, then I saw Helia nod.

I smiled I saw Helia swing her up and begin to run. The laughter that came out of Rose's mouth was so energetic. I really did mean what I said in the car. I think a guy that is good with kids is cute, and it means that they understand love. Should I have told Helia that? No! God, I'm so stupid!

Helia got into the tube and put Rose on top of him.

"Not too fast!" I screamed nervously

"Fast!" Rose screamed contradicting me

I shook my head, turning around.

"I'm not going to watch!" I screamed

Once I heard screaming I had to turn around! To my surprise, they weren't screams of pain they were screams of excitement!

"Well what are you waiting for?" Chelsea asked me, coming up with her tube. I took my tube and went to the 2nd to scariest trail. I got in my tube, then with closed eyes, I kicked off.

"Ahhhhhh!" I screamed as my stomach dropped. It wasn't scary though, it was fun!

I hit a little jump where I went flying in the air for a few seconds. All and all, it was AMAZING! My tube finally stopped at the bottom.

"That was insane" I screamed on my way up

"Amen to that!" Chelsea screamed back

We kept going for maybe 2 hours, the whole time I stayed on the first 3 trails. Nobody in their right minds could get me to go on that extreme one!

"We're going to head inside in 15 minutes" Mr. Knightly announced.

"Flora! Let's go together on the extreme…backwards!" Rose said excitedly

"I'm not even going on that death machine front wards" I told her, implying that I said no.

"Awww…please? I went with Helia a lot, but now I want to go with you" Rose begged

"I want to go with you too…..on the first trail" I said pointing to the least extreme one.

Rose made puppy dog eyes at me.

"I'm going to regret this…but alright" I said taking her hand and moving down to the extreme path. I looked down at the steep fall, quickly looking away.

"Okay I change my mind, see ya!" I said turning to walk away.

Instead of walking, I smacked right into somebody's chest.

"Flora, don't be a baby" Helia said turning my body around

I looked down again

"I'll take being a baby over that" I said pointing down

"Suit yourself" Helia said with a shrug

I turned to walk away again, only this time, my foot hit a rock.

"Wooahhhhh!" I screamed as I lost my balance and fell forward….onto the extreme trail!  
>Helia grabbed for my hand to try to stop me, only coming along with me for the ride.<p>

"Ahhhhhhh!" I screamed as my body hit the ice cold snow. And when I mean hit, I literally mean, hit. We were bouncing up and down on the bumpy pathway.

"Ahhhh!" Helia and I began to scream as we started to near the jump.

Helia grabbed my hand, wrapping his arms around me so we could jump together.

We hit the jump, flying in the air.

"Ahhhhhh!" I screamed feeling my stomach drop.

We hit the snow again, this time with more impact. That's gonna leave a mark.

We began to slow down, tumbling over in the snow and landing next to each other on our backs. We were both breathing hard, our hearts pounding.

"Next time, you may want to try it with a tube, just a thought" Helia said

"Thanks for the advice" I said sticking up my thumb

We looked at each other, then we both began to laugh.

The whole family ran down the mountain to see if we were okay.

"Holy crap! What is wrong with you guys!" Chelsea screamed

"Flora!" Rose screamed

"Helia!" Jamie screamed

The 2 of them ran ahead of everyone.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to get Grandma?" Rose asked me

I shook my head no.

"We're fine everybody, just a little bit shocked" I said

Helia got up, taking my hand and helping me up. I brushed off the snow that was all over my pants. My legs felt frost bitten, and the cold, wet, pants weren't exactly helping.

"I'm going upstairs to change before I freeze to death" I said

"Me too" Helia said

"Haha! Helia, it looks like you peed your pants!" Chelsea said pointing to Helia's butt.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay, I'm definitely coming too" Helia said catching up with me.

"Rose, Jamie! Come on, I want to get you guys showered before lunch" I said

The 2 girls followed after us, running ahead.

"It does look like you peed" I told Helia

"Yeah well yours isn't much better" Helia said

I shrugged

We went up in the elevator, hitting button 6. We went up, getting out on our floor. We began to walk down the hallway, looking for our rooms. Rose and Jamie were placing hopscotch on the floor tiles.

"So, enlighten me. What is it you people do for lunch?" I asked

"Well…we eat and we…..eat" Helia said confused

"No I mean with dress code" I said

"Oh, normal clothes, dinner is when you get into your formal wear" He said

I nodded

"I think I'm going to go take a shower myself, my legs are beginning to get numb" I told him taking my key out.

"Have fun" Helia said putting his key in his door and opening it up.

"Will do" I said with a nod.

Helia laughed, shutting his door behind him.

I smiled, thinking of Helia's laugh. It was so cute, so heartfelt. I opened the door, and the girls walked in. I shut the door behind me entering the room.

"Who wants to go first?" I asked the girls

They both looked around, neither wanting to go.

"Fine then, I'll take a shower first" I said grabbing a towel.

The 2 girls nodded happy, putting on the Television.

I took my wet clothes off then got into a warm bath. My legs felt so good in the heat, I didn't want to move from that spot. Eventually, I got out and changed into a new set of clothing. I put on jeans, a plain white t-shirt and back sweater, with a cute purple scarf around my neck. I put on my boots, then walked out of the bathroom. I put the 2 girls in the bathtub, washing off all the dirt and mud. Then I dressed them both in jeans and sweatsirts.

I heard a knock at my door.

"Guys, I'm going down. Are you guys ready?" I heard Helia say

I went to the door and opened it.

"Yup, come on girls we're going down. Time to shut the T.V off" I said

Rose shut it off as the 2 made their way to the door. I took Jamie in my arms and Helia took Rose. We like to switch it up some times.

"I am so ready for lunch" I said patting my stomach

"Predictable" Helia said shaking hit head

I gave him a little nudge.

We stepped into the elevator. The elevator stopped on the 4th floor, letting in 2 old ladies.

"Hi" Rose said with a wave

Yup, that's my Rose, always waving and talking to random strangers. I'm so proud.

"Well hello there. Isn't she so adorable!" The old women said to her friend. Her friend nodded.

"The other one too!" the other old lady said

Jamie beamed.

"What's your name sweetie?" The old lady said to Rose

"Rose" Rose said

"And you?" She said looking at Jamie

"Jamie" Jamie said

"Beautiful names, for beautiful girls. You look like your mother" The old lady said to Rose, pointing at me.

"Actually I'm not…" I said shaking my head, but was cut off.

"And you look like your father" The other old women said to Jamie, pointing up at Helia.

"No I'm not her…" Helia tried to say but was cut off.

"Isn't this one adorable little family" The old women said to her friend.

"Actually we're not.." I tried to explain again.

The door suddenly opened on the 1st floor.

"Goodbye" The old ladies said waving as they exited the elevator, before we could explain.

"What were they talking about Flora? You're not my mom" Rose said with a giggle

"And you're not my dad" Jamie said

Helia and I looked at each other and shrugged.

Somehow, that little misunderstanding made me feel…..happy. Very, very happy. They said that Helia and I were a cute family, does that mean that maybe we could possibly look cute together?

We got out heading toward the dining room again, for the second time today….not that I'm complaining!

We sat at the same table we sat at for breakfast. Once we got all of our orders in, we had to wait a little while before it could come We were all talking together, until my phone rang,

"Hello?" I said answering it

"Hey Flora" That'd be Stella

"Hey Stella, what's going on? Is everybody there with you?" I asked

"Only me" I heard

That had to be Musa

"Where is everybody else?" I asked

"They're with their families, it's Thanksgiving" Stella said

"So why isn't Musa with her family?" I asked

"Are you insane? One minute in my house on Thanksgiving, and you'll understand why. Especially last year when I brought Riven home. Oh dear god, it was like one disaster after another" Musa said

"So, I invited her to spend it with me!" Stella said

"Awww, that's nice" I said

"So latest update on relationship status" Stella said

I got up from the table so I could go talk to her in another room. Don't want Helia hearing anything.

"Still single" I told her

"Still? How is that possible! I bet Bloom 10 bucks you guys would be together by today! Damn it!" Stella said

"There's a moral to this story…don't bet on friends!" I said

"Oh…then I should probably call Layla and tell her the bets off….." Musa said

"Musa!" I said

They started to laugh.

"Oh, by the way Stella. Do you think maybe you could convince Brandon to buy a pet fish?" I asked. In the car, I had told Helia that Brandon got a fish…but he didn't.

"What the hell?" Stella asked

"Never mind" I said laughing

"Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving" Musa said

"You too" I said

"Gobble, gobble!" Stella screamed getting into the holiday spirit

I started to laugh, hanging up.

I really love those girls. They are the best friends anybody could ever ask for, especially after being friends with people like Kate and Taylor.

I went back to the table, where all the meals were already out. I sat down by my grilled cheese sandwich was, between Chelsea and Helia.

I saw Helia was stealing some of the French fries that came with my meal.

"Hey! Hands off the fries buddy" I said swatting his hands away

"After you stole my muffin this morning it's the least you can do" Helia said

"Fine then, I guess you won't mind if I take an onion ring" I said taking it off his plate

We both looked at each other, then began to laugh.

"Okay you know what, I'm just going to say it! Helia, is Flora your girlfriend or something?" Chelsea asked…screamed was more like it.

The whole table was dead quiet, looking at Chelsea. My face was burning red.

"Oh come on people, we were all thinking it!" Chelsea said

"Well I'm not going to lie to you…"

"Yeah, I guess she's right"

"So true"

Everybody began to say.

By then, I was even redder.

"Well, it's not official or anything, but yeah they're pretty much boyfriend and girlfriend" Jamie said, and Rose nodded in approval.

"Well that explains a lot!" Chelsea screamed

"No it doesn't, Jamie and Rose don't know what they're talking about" Helia said calmly, not a trace of a blush on his face. Ahhhhgggg! I really don't understand where he gets his confidence from! It's like he's never blushed before! It makes me mad, cause as I'm sitting here blushing as red as a tomato he's all cool and calm.

"By the looks of that blush on Flora's face, I'm thinking somebody's telling a lie" Chelsea said to Helia in a singy tone.

Helia looked down at me.

"Well that's normal for Flora, she's always blushing" Helia said with a shrug

"So you're not going out?" Chelsea asked

"Read my lips, Flora's my neighbor, nothing more" Helia said

"Nu uh! That girl in the elevator said you guys were married!" Rose screamed

"Yeah! Old people don't lie!" Jamie screamed

I slapped my forehead

"Rose, Jamie, that lady didn't know us. She was taking an educated guess" I said

"Darn it" They said at the same time

I looked up at Helia, feeling the awkwardness. His words kind of stung, "Read my lips, Flora's my neighbor, nothing more" I know that us being a couple could probably never happen, but I always kind of thought that he considered me his friend. I considered him my friend….

**There you have it, First day of vacation and already SO much chaos! Many ideas in store for you guys, and maybe a kiss too ; ) **


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey, thanks for all of your wonderful reviews! I love you guys!**

**Chapter 11:**

I walked out of the elevator, looking down embarrassed. I never did like getting dressed up very much, it always made me feel a bit…self conscious. But, not matter what I liked or didn't like, there I stood in my baby pink gown. It was strapless, but didn't show off too much. It was long, all the way to the floor. I didn't bother putting on heeled shoes, because you couldn't even see my feet under the long silhouette. I wore my old battered pair of white flats. They were very comfortable though. The dress was pretty straight forward, but not showing too much of my figure. My hair was out, my bangs back held down by a rose. Rose and Jamie ran ahead of me toward our group.

I had dressed Rose in a pink long sleeved dress. It had a white ribbon around the waist, tied in the back into a bow. The dress had a bit of a poof, but it was cute on her. Her hair was put down, 2 pieces tied back in a white ribbon.

I had dressed Jamie in a cute white dress I had found in her suitcase. It was white and sparkly on the top, a silver bow belt in the middle, and it went out like Rose's. That style just naturally looks adorable on children! Jamie's hair was down with a headband.

I finally looked up to see everyone, and the first person I noticed was Helia. He was dressed in a crisp black suit, looking very handsome. He was so mesmerizing, so hypnotizing. He sat on the couch, Rose on his lap. Jamie was sitting with her mother. Ever since Helia had taken Rose snow tubing down the hill, she's taken a very big liking to him. He's so cute with her.

"Flora, you look stunning!" Chelsea said hopping up cheerily

A blush appeared on my face.

"Thank you, you look really pretty too" I said

"You think?" She asked twirling around in her dark blue gown. She did look amazing!

"Flora, you look so beautiful" My Grandma said

I smiled.

"What's wrong with you Helia? Compliment her!" Rose said slapping his arm

Everyone started laughing, though I was just burning bright red. I was beginning to feel light headed.

"Rose…" I murmured embarrassed, taking her out of his lap, and into my arms.

Helia finished laughing then looked up at me.

"Flora, you look very pretty" He said to me, though I don't know if he was serious.

"Oh…umm…thank you.." I said nervously

My Grandpa cleared her throat getting up.

"Well, we best be going now. Don't want them to run out of turkey" My Grandpa said changing the subject, swiftly giving me a wink.

And that's why I love my Grandpa. I flashed him a smile, giving him a nod of appreciation.

"Paul's right" Mr. Knightly said as we all got up.

"Wait! We have to take pictures first!" Mrs. Knightly said, holding up her small digital camera. Everyone moaned, except for my family and Chelsea.

"Oh come on people! Pictures are fun!" Chelsea said happily

"Okay Chelse, now your being to peppy for my likings" Justin said, earning a slap from Chelsea

"We'll take pictures later" Mr. Knightly told his wife reassuringly

"Oh alright" Mrs. Knightly said giving up

We all walked into the dining room, where everybody else was dressed in fancy clothing, just like us. We sat down at our usual table, where a huge feast was already laid out on the table. I sat down, picking up my fork ready to dig in.

"Wait! We have to thank god!" Mrs. Knigtly said stopping us all

I put my fork down, as everybody took each other's hands. Chelsea took my right hand…..and Helia took my left. My small hand fit into his larger one perfectly. I spark of electricity go through me our skin met. It made me blush.

"Thank you God for everything you've done for my wonderful family. I'm so thankful for the meal you've bestowed upon us in which I will now chew. Thank you for my husband, thank you for the best gift you've ever given me, my Charlotte. Thank you for bringing us all together, and keeping everyone safe and healthy. I'm thankful that you brought us together with the Linphea family, for Flora is totally cool and rocks, Rose is adorable, and their grandparents are way cool for being old people," Chelsea said

Everyone started laughing, even my Grandparents. Chelsea continue,

"I'm thankful for gummy worms, I'm thankful for MTV, I'm thankful for…." Chelsea said, but was cut off

"Wrap it up Chelse" Justin said with a cough, earning a laugh from everyone

"Would you be patient! I am trying to talk to God here!" Chelsea screamed at him

"Now, where was I? Oh, I'm thankful for everything you've done for me in the passed year, and I hope you will continue to perform wonders for me. Thanks God, you rule" Chelsea said

I started laughing. Thanks God, you rule? That's a new one.

"Your turn Flora" Chelsea told me

I nodded

"Umm…..I'm very thankful that you've connected my family with this wonderful family. Thank you so much for giving me such amazing friends like Bloom, Stella, Musa, Tecna, and Layla. They are truly the best thing you've ever done for me. Thank you so much for keeping my Rose safe and happy. Thank you for making us move in next door to the Knightly's because they are such nice people and they've definitely made my life more fun," I said taking a short glance at Helia

"I am so thankful to have such nice people around me, and so much love. Thank you God, you have truly made me so happy" I said

I nodded toward Helia, telling him it's his turn.

"I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for all the gifts you've given me. I'm thankful for the fact that my team might make it to the championship. I'm thankful that you've given my sister a best friend like Rose," Helia started

Rose and Jamie smiled, linking their arms together.

"Thank you for making the Linphea family move in next door to us. Flora has definitely made my life a bit more interesting. I don't think I would have ever almost got attacked by a moose if she wasn't around," Helia said

I started laughing, remembering the moment.

"Thank you for keeping my family healthy and happy" Helia finished

Rose was next.

"Umm…where do I begin. Well first of all thanks a bunch for making Jamie my BFF. Thank you for making Flora my sister cause she's totally nice and smart and pretty, and doesn't really care if I eat lots of junk. Thanks for letting me move in with my Grandma, cause she's makes the bestest pies you'll ever taste! Oh thanks for pie too! Oh and cake! Cake is good! I'm not exactly sure who you are, but I'm almost positive that you have magical powers. So maybe could you make me a fairy? I've always wanted to be one…oh and Jamie too!" Rose said

We all looked at each other speechless.

"Amen" Jamie said seriously, her eyes shut in concentration.

Our whole table burst out into laughter.

Everybody finished thanking God, then we began to eat.

I put some turkey and stuffing on Rose's plate, then I put some stuffing on my plate. I looked around at everybody, then suddenly something hit me.

"Hey, where's Charlotte" I asked Chelsea finally realizing Charlotte was missing

"She's upstairs sleeping" Chelsea said

"By herself?" Everyone screamed

"Oh relax, we have a baby monitor! We're not that bad of parents!" Chelsea screamed

"Seriously" Justin said with a nod

I couldn't help but crack a smile.

I ate some stuffing, a cup of soup, and I had some steamed vegetables.

"Man this turkey is good, to bad you cant eat some Flora" Chelsea said

"Yeah, remind me exactly why you choose to be a vegetarian" Helia said

I rolled my eyes.

"I don't care, it doesn't bother me. I'm fine just eating my stuffing" I told them holding up my fork, then placing it in my mouth.

"So like, how is it again that you stay thin cause this morning you had 2 omelets, at lunch you ate like 2 orders of fries, and now your like hoarding in the stuffing" Chelsea said

Helia burst out laughing.

"Wow Chelsea, you sure are a charmer" Justin said sarcastically

I laughed

"Hey, I'm not a hater, she just called me thin" I said

"Some boys like a girl with a big appetite, right Justin?" Chelsea said as she stuck more turkey in her mouth

"Yes dear" Justin said, but when she turned her head Justin shook his head no at me and Helia.

Helia and I began to laugh. Chelsea snapped her head back at Justin.

"What? What did you do? Did you say something about me!" Chelsea screamed

"No, of course not" Justin said innocently

Chelsea gave him a look, then turned back around.

"Man I wish everyone could finish eating already" She said

"Why?" I asked

"Cause then afterwards there's the after party" She said with a duh look

"The after party?" I repeated confused

"It's basically when they have dancing and desserts and wine" She said

"Sounds fun" I said with a shrug

"It is!" She said

Suddenly, I heard a crying noise.

"Umm…what is that?" I asked

"Sounds like the baby monitor" Mrs. Knightly said

Chelsea dug into her purse and pulled out a little screen.

"Correct you are Aunt Susan, better go calm her down" Chelsea said getting up

"If you want, I can go" I offered

"Well okay!" Chelsea said sitting her but back down

"Chelsea! You're supposed to say no thank you and be a good mother and go up" Justin said

"I am a good mother, 24 hours, of every single day. Listen Justin, when life gives you free child services you sit on your butt, comprende?" Chelsea said

Justin smacked his head

I laughed, and got up. Chelsea handed me the key to her room. It said 403 on the top.

"Why don't you go with her Helia?" Chelsea said in a singy tone, lifting her eyebrows playfully.

"That's creepy, but I'll go" Helia said getting up, looking at Chelsea with a weird expression.

"Have fun" Chelsea called in a singy tone

"Keep your pants on" Justin called in a singy tone

I burned red, and I looked over to see if Helia was red too…nope. I will get him to blush eventually!

"Justin! There are children present!" I heard Mrs. Knightly screamed, referring to Rose and Jamie.

"Why would Helia take his pants off? That's stupid" Jamie said as her and Rose were laughing

I burned an even deeper red. We walked on, getting into the elevator.

"So" I said as my face began to regain it's natural color.

"Why do you offer to do stuff for other people so much?" Helia asked

"Umm…cause it's the right thing to do?" I said with a shrug

"Wow, you are so different from the old Flora, it's almost laughable" Helia said, referring to when I was still in 8th grade.

"Ah yes, back when hair irons were essential, and nail polish was like, totally fantabulous!" I said in a high pitched girly voice

Helia laughed.

"Exactly" Helia said

"Funny, you're exactly the same" I said

"The same how?" He asked

"Oh you know, smart, athletic, every girl wants you, yada yada yada" I said

"Wow, I sound like the total package" Helia said

I laughed.

The elevator doors opened, letting us out on the 4th floor. We went down a few rooms then got to Chelsea and Justin's room. I took the key and stuck it in, already hearing the baby's cries. When I opened the door I saw baby Charlotte crying and whining on the bed.

Downstairs….

"Good one!" Chelsea said to Justin, still laughing from his joke.

"10 bucks Flora's blushing" Justin said

"20 bucks Helia's not" Chelsea said

"Would you 2 stop, you're embarrassing her! Poor girl" Mrs. Knightly said

"Oh come on Aunt Susan, you have to agree, it was funny!" Chelsea said

"Okay, yes it was funny…but still mean" Mrs. Knightly said  
>"Hey, who wants to spy on them in the room?" Chelsea asked holding up the baby monitor. In the picture, Flora and Helia had walked into the room together.<p>

"Oooo! Me! Me!" Rose and Jamie screamed jumping out of their seats and climbing onto Chelsea's lap.

Upstairs…..

"Awww….come here sweety" I said picking up the small baby girl.

"Why is she crying?" Helia asked

"Hmmm, let's think about this for a second. She went to bed and her parents were in the room. Woke up, and they were gone. Why do you think she's crying?" I asked him

"Okay, sarcasm unnecessary" Helia said

I began to rock her, rubbing her back soothingly. Her cries stopped and her eyes were beginning to droop.

Helia sat down on the bed, watching me rock the baby.

"What?" I whispered

"Nothing" He whispered, a small grin on his face

I laid the baby down on the large bed, resting her head on a pillow. I sat down next to her, brushing her hair back. Her eyes were shut, and I could hear a very quiet deep breathing coming from her mouth.

"She's asleep" I whispered

He nodded at me.

"You're good" He whispered

"Thank you, thank you" I said bowing

He smiled

"So how do you do it?" He asked me

"Instinct" I told him

"Instinct?" He asked

"Instinct and reflex" I said

"Huh?" he asked

"Well, I've got a motherly instinct cause I raised Rose, and reflex because if a baby is going to throw a tantrum or something on you, you have to act quick" I said

"Act quick?" Helia asked

"Exactly" I said with a smile

"So if I was to say, do something now that should totally take you by surprise, because you have 'instinct', you would know it was coming?" Helia asked, putting quotations around instinct.

"I don't know, but don..." I started, but suddenly Helia took both my hands and turned over, pinning me down on the bed, him on top of me. I gasped, startled, my eyes wide.

Downstairs….

"What are they doing?" Rose asked as she saw Helia get on top of Flora

Chelsea put her hands on top of Rose's and Jamie's faces, turning them around.  
>"Woah! Okay, when Justin said keep your pants on, he meant it!" Chelsea screamed<p>

"What are they saying?" Justin asked

"I don't know, I can't hear them. But they cannot do it right in front of my baby!" Chelsea screamed getting up

"They're what?" Flora's Grandmother screamed

"They're totally getting it down in front of my innocent little baby!" Chelsea screamed

"Getting what down?" Jamie asked

"Yeah, what are they doing?" Rose asked clueless

"Wait Chels, he's getting off of her" Justin said lifting the monitor

Upstairs…..

My eyes grew wide as Helia began to laugh.

"Oh yeah, you got killer instinct" Helia said sarcastically, still on top of me.

My face burned red.

"Alright Flora, I'll give you a second chance to prove your reflex. What do you think I'm going to do next?" Helia asked, leaning in close to my face. I couldn't stop staring at his lips. I was experiencing mixed thoughts. Part of me wanted to get the heck out of there…and part of me wanted him to kiss me.

"I…I..I…Uhhhh…" I stutteredwith a gulp as his face became nearer.

"Yes?" He asked, our nose practically touching.

My face became the ultimate shade of red. I felt like passing out.

Suddenly, Helia started to laugh. He pulled off me, standing up.

"Flora, you are just too easy" He said shaking his head.

I looked up at him, biting my lip. My face was still just as red as it was before.

He extended his hand. I took it as he helped me up.

"Well, we better head down now. They're probably already at the after party" Helia said as if none of that just happened.

I was speechless, not saying a word. We left the room, heading toward the elevator, and still, I was speechless. When we got in the elevator, I decided to say something.

"H..h..helia. What did you mean when you said I was 'too easy'?" I asked

He took his hand and rested it on my cheek. Oh no, is he going to do it again?

"Your blush" He said with a grin, lowering his hand down.

"Oh" I said, trying not to make any eye contact at all.

We waited silently for the doors to open. The whole time I'm thinking, oh dear God! Oh dear God! Please make this door open! The door finally opened, so I rushed out. I was caught by my hand though. Helia turned me around.

"Flora, you can calm down now. I promise I won't touch you any more" He said with a laugh, then began to walk.

"You just startled me" I said catching up with him.  
>"Startled you huh? What happened to your super reflex?" He asked<p>

I shrugged, a smile playing at my lips.

"Must've taken the day off" I said with a shrug

Helia laughed, rolling his eyes.

Helia led me into some ball room. It apparently was the after party. People were slow dancing to the music that was playing. People sat by the bar drinking their drinks, and some stood by the dessert table, eating some delicious looking food. I looked around for some familiar faces. I smiled.

"Check out my Grandparents" I said pointing to the old couple, swaying to the music. It's such a shame that my parents couldn't be like them. Some part of me always knew that if they had what my Grandparents have, my mom would probably be alive right now.

"Hey you guys!" Chelsea said she and Justin walked over to us, hand in hand. They had just been dancing.

"Hey" I said

"So, anything happen upstairs?" Justin asked, a curious look in his eye

"Not really, we put Charlotte to sleep" I said, confused as to why Justin was giving us a look  
>"Interesting" Chelsea said , narrowing her eyes.<p>

"Let's go dance some more" Justin said pulling Chelsea away

"Okay, that was weird" I said to Helia

"Just about to say the same thing" I said

"Flora!" I turned my head and saw my little blond munchkin running at me with Jamie. I smiled when I saw them

"Come dance with us!" Rose said, pulling one of my arms, and Jamie pulling the other.

I danced with everyone for a little while, and got some pf the delicious desserts that they had. It was almost 11:30, and the girls were getting sleepy.

"Girls, maybe you want to go upstairs?" I asked them

"No, we want to dance more" Rose said, rubbing her eyes.

"Yes, you girls are going up" I said

"I'll take them, you can stay down" Helia said

"Are you sure?" I asked

"Yeah" He said, lifting both girls into his arms.

I smiled. He's such a gentlemen.

"Hey Flo-ra!" Chelsea screamed slamming her hand on my shoulder.

"Uhh…hello?" I said

"You look so prreeetttyyyyy" She said

"Why are you acting all strange?" I asked

"She's drunk" Justin said coming up behind her and taking her hand of my shoulder.

I raised my eyebrows.

"She only had 1 glass" I said

"That's all it takes with this women" He said

"Wooooowwww, yooouuuu are so hoooootttttt" Chelsea said to Justin

"I know" Justin said

"I think I'll marry you!" Chelsea said

"Little late on that" Justin said

"Why? You're married already? To who?" Chelsea asked

"To you" Justin said rolling his eyes

"Yaaaayyyyyy!" Chelsea said

"Come on, I'm taking you upstairs" Justin said, pushing her shoulders

As Justin pushed Chelsea out of the room, Helia entered the room. He looked sideways at Chelsea as she began to laugh insanely.

"What happened to her?" he asked me

"Drunk" I said with a laugh

"What about you, did you drink any?" He asked

"I'm not a drinker, it's kind of illegal" I told him

"Me either, seems to me the same thing happens every single year. Chelsea always seems to go back up to her room drunk" Helia said with a shrug

A slow song started up again.

"Wanna dance?" Helia asked extending his hand. I looked up at his face, then down to his hand. I smiled, taking his hand.

"Why not" I said with a shrug

He pulled me onto the dance floor, placing one hand on my waist, and the other holding my hand. I laughed as we swayed to the music.

"You're not a very good dancer" He said to me with a laugh

"What do you know, I was about to say the same thing to you" I said with a wink

He laughed

"Well then, I guess we both kind of suck in our own ways" He said

Suddenly, he dipped me, catching me with one swift movement. He came down toward my face.

"If you're trying to make me blush again, it's not going to work" I said, our eyes locked

Helia smiled.

"Actually, I wanted to tell you how much I admired those shoes of yours" He said

I burst out laughing, thinking of my old nasty shoes.

"First one to notice" I said

"Only you would wear shoes like that under a gown like this" He said

"Well what's the point of straining my feet if nobody can even see my shoes?" I asked

"I saw your shoes" He said

"Yeah, but your you, you catch everything" I said

"Must be apart of being perfect, right?" He asked

"Bingo" I said as he lifted me back up

"You realize my mom is staring at us, correct?" Helia said

"What? Where?" I asked suddenly embarrassed.

He twirled me around and I saw Susan, my grandmother, and Helia's grandmother watching us.

"Don't let them know we see them" Helia said twirling me back around

"What are they looking at?" I asked

"I don't know, but we might as well give them a show, right?" Helia said

"Right….wait not right!" I said as Helia twirled me around again, then dipped me.

"Helia! Your mom is so going to kill me!" I said

"For what? Dancing?" He asked

"No, she'll probably think I'm trying to like…..go out with you or something" I said

"Cause we're dancing? You should really get out more" Helia said

He lifted me back up, placing a kiss on my hand.

My face went red.

"Now she'll definitely think you're trying to go out with me. Mission accomplished, you are now free" Helia said with a smile.

"Helia! You are so evil!" I said smacking him in the arm

Helia started laughing.

"And here I thought I was the complete package" Helia said, still laughing

"Helia!" I said

I turned around and saw the 3 women laughing at us now.

"Oh god, they're laughing. Okay, I'm going up. Goodnight" I said quickly rushing toward the exit. Helia caught up with me.

"You coming up?" I asked

"Let's see. Come up to bed, or party with our grandma's?" He said

I laughed, getting into the elevator.

"You seriously are so mean" I told him

"Tell me that wasn't funny" He said

"Okay fine, that was a little funny….but still. My Grandma's probably gonna want to have…the talk with me" I said awkwardly

Helia burst out laughing.

"Seriously? All I did was kiss your hand. Imagine what they'd do if I kissed you for real or something" He said shaking his head

I froze, biting my lip. I really, really hoped that he could have done that. I've never actually kissed a guy before, and I always hoped my first kiss would be with Helia. His lips just look so alluring. They look soft, and sweet.

The door opened on our floor. I went out toward my room, opening it with my key. When I got inside, there was nobody in there. Ummm….where are the girls? My eyes shot open, as I ran across the hallway.

"Helia! Helia!" I said banging on the door

Helia came to the door.

"Can I help you?" He asked

"The girls are missing!" I screamed

He sighed, pushing his door back farther. On the second bed I saw the 2 girls laying down, snoring away.

"Oh thank god! I thought they were missing!" I said walking in

"Umm…what are you doing?" He asked as I went over to the bed

"I'm taking them back to my room" I said

"There's a reason I put them in here" He said

I stopped and looked up at him.

"You do realize they get up at 6am, correct?" I asked

He shrugged

"You can sleep in tomorrow" He said

I smiled.

"Thank you so much!" I said throwing my arms around him, but quickly pulling back.

"Goodnight" I said, feeling a blush come on.

"Goodnight" Helia said

I left his room, returning to my empty one across the hall.

I changed into sweat pants and a t-shirt, putting my hair up, then I went staright to bed. Today was just a little bit….insane.

**There you have it. Hope you liked it. For any of my fans that also read Flame and Dragon, there should be a new chapter on tomorrow. Thanks for reading, love ya!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews! Sometimes you guys just crack me up. Now, on with our story!**

**Chapter 12:**

Knock! Knock!

"Mmmmmm" I moaned

Knock! Knock!

My eyes fluttered open, my head automatically turning to look at the small digital alarm clock. 4:37am.

I swing my legs over the bed, then half asleep I walk over to the hotel room door. I open it, only to find a little blonde and a little brunette standing there in their pj's, dragging a blanket behind them. I got down on my knees to level myself with them.

"Rose, Jamie, what's going on. Why are you here? Why aren't you sleeping?" I asked them, stroking Rose's cheeks.

"Ummmmm…well, I wanted to come sleep with you. We heard…noises" Rose said

Rose was obviously referring to the wolves. They only came out at night, so we were perfectly safe.

Jamie nodded with a shiver.

I smiled at them, opening up the door wider. The 2 girls scurried in, hopping onto the bed.

Before I had a chance to shut my door, Helia's bursted open. Helia came out with a look of horror on his face.

"I cant find the girls!" He whispered in a screamed tone. He looked a bit startled when he saw me.

"What do ya know, the whole hotels up" I said sarcastically

He gave me a pleading look.

"Calm down, they're in here. They got scared from some noise they heard" I said

Helia let out a sigh of relief.

"Do you realize I was about to call the cops?" He asked walking into my room

"Party in Flora's room" I moaned collapsing on my bed.

Helia walked over to Jamie, stroking her hair.

"Helia, can you stay with us too?" Jamie asked, her eyes starting to droop.

I took a glance at Helia, nodding for him to take the other empty bed.

"Okay James, but girls, no more of this late night switching. Right?" He said collapsing on the other bed

"Right" The 2 girls said in a light tone

Rose snuggled into my arm. The room was dead quiet, but I felt a churning in my stomach. I took a short glance over at Helia. That was the first moment I'd realized Helia was shirtless. I guess it was kind of dark and I was like half asleep, but how could I miss something like that? My stomach turned in knots. Why am I so nervous? It's like something in my brain is telling me I'm nervous, but then I'm just like ummm…why am I so nervous? I mean technically this is how far apart that Helia and I sleep all the time….but there's usually a wall between us…

I closed my eyes, letting out a breath, and turning back front.

I heard a small deep breathing come from Rose and Jamie.

"So I guess neither of us will be getting up early tomorrow" Helia whispered

"That doesn't sound so bad" I whispered back.

"You really are such a mother" Helia whispered

"I cant help it, motherly instincts is just something I've acquired from my mother" I said

Helia sighed. He sounded so…uneasy.

"Something on your mind?" I asked

"Flora, do you remember what you said to me? That day in the park?" He asked me

I do remember. I remember exactly what I said to him.

"Helia Knightly, you may still be athletic and smart, and you may still have the looks. But you want to know what you've lost? Heart! You are not the same boy I remember!" I had screamed at him. Wow, I was such a hypocrite. I felt that way back then, way before Helia began to open up to me. He was so cold to me. He called me names, he was just so…rude. He wasn't like himself, or at least the Helia I know now. But it's funny. In less than 4 months, his actions toward me had changed. It was like he didnt want to be mean, but felt he had to stand up for his friends. But then we started talking through our window, and our sisters always threw us together somehow. Things just…changed.

"No" I lied

I don't want to remember what I'd said to him. It was so cruel.

"You told me that I had no heart, and was a nasty big headed jerk" He said, a short chuckle.

I bit my lip. I didn't expect him to tell me. Him saying it to me burned even worse than me saying it to myself.

"Oh…that…" I said

"Did you mean it? Am I really a jerk?" He asked me

The 2 of us turned over in our beds, our faces facing each other.

"No, not anymore. Helia, why were so…different then?" I asked him

"Because I didn't think you were who you are" He said

A look of confusion overtook me

"I didn't think you were the way you are now. I expected you to be this bitch with an attitude. When word got around that Flora Linphea was coming back to the school, people were a little bit afraid" Helia explained

"Well that's….comforting" I said

Helia laughed

"You didn't let me finish. Then when you actually got there, everybody began to take advantage of you. Kate and Taylor, they're jealous of you" Helia said

"As if, Kate's not jealous of anyone, or anything" I said shaking my head

"No, she pretends like she's not jealous of anyone. Layla was in the girls locker room one day, and I guess Kate and Taylor didn't know she was there. Layla heard their whole conversation. She said she heard Kate say "I hate Flora, her and her skinny little ass can just stay away" then Taylor said, "But you have to admit, she's kind of like you just said, she's skinny. She could be a good asset to the cheerleading squad" So Kate got really angry, she said "Shut up Taylor! We don't need anybody on the team okay! I'm the best thing we've got, so let's just keep it that way!" Then Taylor just kind of snapped. She said, "Newsflash Kate, I'm the captain o the cheer squad. If you and your ego want to go hang out with the matheletes then go ahead. You aren't the boss of me. At least Flora can do a proper flip, your cartwheels are crap! The only reason you're even on the squad is because you're friends with me. At least show me some graditude. If it weren't for my family, you'd still be a little orphan girl living on the street. My family hooked you up with foster parents, my family got you a home, my family got you everything you've ever wanted. So listen up Kate. You can pretend you're all that, but in reality, you should be my sidekick, not the other way around! So much for best friends forever!" Then she just left the locker room. Layla said she was so confused and astounded, she just wanted to get out of there. Then she said she heard sniffling.

She peaked out and saw Kate on the floor, crying her eyes out. Then she said she heard her say "Flora gets everything". I just thought you should know this, before you feel so down on yourself" Helia said

I gasped

"Kate's an orphan?" I asked

"Well, was an orphan" Helia said

"Taylor's family found her, and then found her a family?" I asked

"That's what Layla told me" Helia said

"Oh my gosh. How could Kate be so mean after something like that?" I asked

"Everybody has their own ways of handling things like for instance, changed your whole point of view on life. Kate….had other plans" Helia said

"But why hate me? My dad had an affair, and my mom died smoking. Where in that do I get everything?" I said  
>Helia shrugged.<p>

"Why are the girls so mean to her then? Even after they heard her story?" I asked

"Because, Layla hasn't told anybody this story but me. It happened after my football practice. Kate and Taylor had Cheerleading Practice, and Layla had Soccer practice. Layla ran out of the locker room, accidentally running into me. I gave her a lift home, and she said she had to tell somebody. As of now, you, me, and Layla are the only ones, besides Kate and Taylor, that know" Helia said

"To tell you the truth, I never met Kate's mom before…or went to her house. We always went to Taylor's house" I said

"Yup, everything is falling into place, right?" He asked

I nodded.

"Oh my gosh, it all makes sense now!" I said

Helia nodded, turning over.

"Thank you" I said

"For what?" He asked

"For trusting me with this information" I said

Then it fell silent. I took a glance at the digital clock. 5:12am. I heard a light snore come from Helia's bed.

I love you Helia. I love you with everything I've got. You're passionate, and you're amazing. You're the most amazing guy I've ever met. When you're in the room, my heart speeds up, when you're not I wonder where you are. I purposely leave my window open, whether it's hot or cold. I wait, just hoping you'd want to talk with me. I love getting into crazy road trips with you. I love it when you make me blush. I love when you tease me, making me think you're about to kiss me. I love dancing with you, and the way you twirl me around. I love it when you're crazy with me, or when we could just be sitting in our rooms laughing at nothing. I love talking with you, and the way your lips turn into a smile almost immediately. I don't even mind if you walk around your house pantsless on Sunday mornings! I just know that I love you, and wish that you could someday feel the same way about me. And I wish that someday, I could have the courage to say these words to you directly.

**I know it's short, I'm sorry. I have my sister's engagement party tonight, and I just hoped I could post a chapter before I left. Hope you liked it, if not tell me what I should do that'll make it more enjoyable. Thanks for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey so for anybody that reads flame and dragon, I should have the sequal up by Friday/ Saturday. Than you for all your reviews, they're awesome! **

**Chapter 13:**

Our feet left tracks in the cold snow. The whole family was heading up to the ice skating rink. I love to ice skate! I always used to go ice skating on the frozen pond near my house.

"Ice skating is so fun!" Chelsea screamed on the top of her lungs

"Chelse, keep your voice down, you'll cause an avalanche" Helia said

"Oh shush Helia, don't be such a downer just cause you don't now how to…." Chelsea started

Helia gave her a look, signaling her to stop.

"Doesn't know how to what?" I asked

"Uhhhhh…..shop for bras?" Chelsea said

Helia smacked his forehead. I looked over at Helia, eyebrows up.

"Well alright….good to know…" I said, giving him a weird look, then walking ahead with Rose and Jamie.

"Shopping for bras? That's the best you can come up with?" Helia murmured under his breath at Chelsea

"That reminds me, I have to go get some bras" Chelsea said

"Okay Chels, there's some things you can tell me, and there's some things you should just keep to yourself" Helia said, rolling his eyes, then running ahead.

"Don't look at me like that! You know I'm bad with short notice things!" Chelsea screamed

Everybody looked back at her.

"What?" She asked.

Helia caught up with me  
>"So I guess we wont be going bra shopping together, huh?" I said, not looking at Helia's face.<p>

"Oh darn, and I was so hoping to" Helia said sarcastically

Suddenly, I felt a blush come to my cheeks.

"I guess you wont be telling me the truth then" I said

"Huh?" Helia asked

"About what you can't do, cause I'm almost 100 percent sure that it's not shopping for bras" I said, finally looking him in the eyes.

"Nothing" Helia said

I gave him my, "Come on, just say it" look.

"Nothing" Helia repeated

"Fine then, don't tell me. But I'll figure it out" I said

Helia laughed

"I'm sure you will" He said

We got to the lodge. Inside, there was a place to rent ice skates, and a little café. The cae sold coffee and hot chocolate, and provided you with heat. I went toward where you get the ice skates.

"What size?" the guy at the counter asked

"10 for Rose, 12 for Jamie, and I'll take a women's 6" I told him

He nodded going into the back

Helia and Chelsea started to chuckle.

"What?" I asked them turning around

"Size 6?" Chelsea asked

"What?" I asked

"You have like the tiniest foot in the world" Helia said

"I do not have tiny feet, you guys just have unusually large feet" I told them

Chelsea's mouth shot open.

"Okay she did not just call me unusually large!" Chelsea said

Helia started to full out laugh.

"Actually I called your feet that" I said, taking the skates from the guy.

"Thank you" I said, walking over to a bench.

The 2 girls sat down, removing their shoes.

I put the skates onto Rose's feet first.

"Flora, they're too tight" Rose whined

"That's how they're supposed to be, you don't want to fall right?" I asked

She nodded, defeated. Then I put Jamie's on. I sat down to put my ice skates on. Chelsea waked over to us, her skates already on. She held out her hands to the 2 girls.

"Who wants to come skating with me?" She asked

"Me!" Jamie screamed

"Me!" Rose screamed

They took her hands then she led them onto the ice.

Helia came and sat down with me as I was putting on my 2nd skate.

"Hey" He said taking his shoes of.

"Cant wait to get out there" I said excitedly, tying the lace.

Helia smiled, putting his on too.

I got up, then began to walk to the ice. I turned around, looking at Helia.

"You coming?" I asked

"Uhhh…yeah" He said getting up, his legs shaky. He began to take tiny steps, holding onto the wall.

A minute passed and he still wasn't there. A smile slowly crept onto my face as I watched Helia.

"I got it! I'll just crawl!" Helia said getting onto the floor

He began to crawl toward me.

I burst out laughing, trying to cover my mouth with my hands.

"Ohhhh, so you don't know how to skate?" I asked

Helia looked up at me from the floor.

"Well not exactly" He said

I burst out laughing again.

"This isn't funny" He said

"Okay, Okay, I'll stop. Come on" I said taking his 2 hands and lifting him up.

"What do you know, Helia's own prince charming!" Chelsea screamed, doing a twirl on the ice.

"Shut up!" Helia screamed back

I led Helia to the ice, where I got on with ease. Helia on the other hand, gripped the wall as tight as he could, his body dragging behind him.

I put my hand out.

"Come on" I said

He took my hands as I pulled him out to the center.

"Well if it isn't pretty boy. Never thought I'd see you out here" Chelsea said with a laugh, stopping in front of us, Rose and Jamie in each of her hands.

"Flora! Flora! Did you see me back there! Chelsea taught me how to skate!" Rose said

"I did, that was awesome!" I said slapping her high five, letting go of Helia's hand for a second.

"Woahhh…woahhh!" He screamed, clutching onto my arm again.

I burst out laughing again, I couldn't help it.

"Wow Flora, you're a boy magnet!" Chelsea said smiling

"Helia, it's not that hard, watch" Jamie said. Jamie let go of Chelsea's hands for a second then glided, very lightly.

"Tada!" She said coming back.

"Great job Jamie! Just like I showed you!" Chelsea said

"Let's go show my Mommy" Jamie said pulling onto Chelsea's arm.

"Yeah, I want to show Grandma" Rose said

They skated away, leaving me with a hopeless Helia.

"Okay ready?" I asked taking his hand

"For what?" He asked

"For me to teach you how to skate" I said

"Yeah…not gonna happen" Helia said with a laugh

"Come on Helia, you just have to believe you can do it" I said

Helia narrowed his eyes.

"You're not going to break out in song, are you?" He asked

I laughed shaking my head.

"No I promise I wont break out in song. Now come on, ready? It goes, 1 , 2 , glide. 1, 2, glide" I told him smoothly moving my feet.

Helia tried to do it.

"Good, keep going. 1, 2, glide" I said as we made it around once.

"I feel like a 3 year old" Helia stated

"Yeah well…you skate like one too" I told him

"Not funny" Helia said

"So funny" I said back

We kept skating like this for an hour, Helia finally starting to get the hang of it.

"You ready to be let go?" I asked

"Hell no" Helia said

"Too bad, you're ready" I said taking my hand away, and giving him a bit of a push.

"Woahhh…woahhhh!" Helia said, but soon got his balance.

"Remember, 1, 2, glide" I told him

Helia nodded, beginning the sequence.

"Yeah! You're doing great Helia!" I screamed

He smiled, nearing the turn…but he wasn't turning.

"Flora!" He screamed

"Yeah?" I asked

"You never taught me how to turn!" He screamed, just as his body hit the wall. Helia fell down, hitting the ice.

"Helia! Are you okay?" I asked, quickly skating over to him.

"Yeah…just a bit bruised" He said sitting up.

Chelsea skated over to us.

"Okay, am I the only one that found that funny?" Chelsea asked, covering her mouth.

"Felling the love Chels, feeling the love" Helia said

"Sorry. Are you okay?" Chelsea said

Helia nodded, holding up his 2 hands.

"Help me up" He said

I took one hand, and Chelsea took the other. Together we got him back up.

"Other than the fall, you did really good" I told him encouragingly

Rose and Jamie skated over to us.

"Hahaha! Helia fell down!" Jamie said pointing

A smile crept onto my face. That's why I love that kid.

"Hahahaha, let's all laugh at Helia" Helia said sarcastically

"Well okay" I said

Everybody began to laugh.

When I stopped laughing I took Helia's hand, taking him to the middle again.

"Isn't this fun?" I asked

"No, not really" Helia said

"It is now, see ya" I said, pulling my hand out and deserting him in the middle of the ice.

"Flora! You can't just leave me here! Woahhhhh!" Helia screamed as he fell down. He grabbed my foot, just as I was about to leave him. I went down with him, hitting the ice for the first time.

"Karma" Helia said

We were laying down together, smack in the middle of the rink. We looked at each other, then began to crack up. We finally stopped laughing, still laying there.

"Helia" I said

"Yeah?" He asked

"I don't know how to get up" I said looking at his ace again

"Me either" He said

Then we started cracking up again.

I felt my butt start to get all wet from the ice.

Rose and Jamie came and hopped on top of us, laughing along with us.

"Picture moment!" Mrs. Knightly screamed getting her camera out.

The 4 of us smiled, as the camera snapped a picture of us.

"Adorable" She said

"Take another picture with Flora's phone!" Rose screamed

Mrs. Knightly went and got my phone, then snapped another picture.

The whole time, a smile never left my face.

Later that day, we got back into the hotel. It was warm, sitting there in the lobby. We all just sat around on the couches. I had changed my clothing after our little skating incident. My butt was so wet, I felt like my pants were about to fall down. I changed into jeans, a white sweater, a purple scarf, and short grey boots. My hair was left out, with purple feather earrings.

I sat sitting up on the couch, Helia sitting sideways with his feet in my lap. Rose and Jamie were sitting next to me, my arm around Rose.

"Oooo! Let's play sharaids!" Chelsea screamed hopping up.

Justin shook his head.

"Only you" He said

"What? You don't like sharaids? Then what would you like to do oh great one?" Chelsea asked her husband, her hands on hips

"That's more like it. How about we play some BS(It's a card game, for anybody that doesn't know. You put down numbers and if somebody thinks your lying they say, BS!)

"Flora, Helia, you guys up for it?" Justin said

I shrugged, and Helia nodded. The 4 of us sat around the small coffee table, Justin handing out the cards.

I looked at my deck, sorting it through.

"2 aces" Justin said putting down his cards

Nobody said anything so we moved onto Chelsea.

"3 ones" She said putting down 3 cards.

Justin looked her in the eyes, thinking weather he should say BS or not. He decided not too.

Justin decided not too.

"Haha! I lied!" Chelsea screamed

"Damn it" Justin said

"Okay Flora, your turn" Chelsea said

"4 twos" I said putting down my cards

Helia looked into my eyes, getting really close. I felt a blush come to my cheeks.

"Bull Shit" Helia announced.

I shook my head.

"Nope! Looks like the decks all yours!" I said happily

Justin, Chelsea, and I laughed, high fiving.

Helia, unhappily, took the deck.

"Okay, 4 threes" Helia said putting down the cards.

Nobody said anything.

Turns out, Helia was telling the truth.

"2 fives" Justin said

"Bull Shit" Chelsea automatically said, without even thinking

"Ahhhh crap!" Justin said

"haha!" Chelsea said giving him the deck

"How did you know?" I asked

"Please. I know my husband, he's like the biggest cheater in the world" Chelsea said

Helia and I began to laugh.

We went around, and around. So far, I never had to pick up the deck. I never even BS'ed yet.

"4 eights" Helia said putting down his cards.

I saw his nose slightly flare up, and his lips stay down, trying to hide a smile.

"BS?" I said, but it sounded like more of a question

"Crap!" Helia said taking the deck

I smiled, cheering.

"You didn't even say Bull Shit" Chelsea said

"Please, that's as far as you'll get with this girl and cursing" Helia said

"You don't curse?" Justin asked

"No, not really" I said

"So like, you've never been like really, really angry and then it just slipped?" Chelsea asked

"Not really" I said with a shrug

"How old are you again?" Chelsea asked

"17" I said

"There's got to be a world record for that! 17 year old that doesn't curse!" Justin said

I shrugged.

After dinner, I had realized that we would be leaving the next morning! That's so sad, because I really loved it here! I'm going to miss Chelsea, and Justin, and baby Charlotte, and all of Helia's aunts and uncles!

On the way back up to our room, Helia stopped me.

"7am we're out of here, got it? I don't want to be driving in the dark again" Helia said

I laughed

"Or attacked by Moose" I said

"Exactly" Helia said

"But you have to admit, this was an awesome vacation" I said

"Definitely" He said

Helia joined Rose, Jamie, and I in my hotel room just to hang out till we go to bed. Rose and Jamie were watching some television show on Disney Channel. Helia and I sat by the desk chairs, just hanging out.

At 10:45 my phone started ringing.

"Hello?" I said

"Flora, it's so good to hear your voice" I heard my Dad's voice at the other end

"Dad!" I said

Rose jumped up and ran over to me.

"Daddy!" She screamed

I heard my dad laughing on the other end.

"Hi Rosey" He said

"Daddy, oh my gosh. I can't wait to tell you everything we did! First we went snowtubing, and Helia took me on this big mountain, then we went ice skating and Jamie's cousin Chelsea taught me how to skate! Flora tried to teach Helia, but then they both fell down, it was so funny!" Rose said

"Who's Helia?" My dad said

"Flora's boyfriend" Rose said

Suddenly, Helia looked up intrigued.

"Excuse me?" My dad said

"She's joking dad, you know that if I had a boyfriend I'd tell you" I said

"It's a good thing I trust you Flora" My dad said

I started laughing

"I just wanted to call and say Happy Thanksgiving. Sorry I wasn't able to call yesterday, I was in this huge meeting" My Dad said

"No, I understand. Don't worry about it" I said

"I love you and your sister very much" He said

"We love you to" I said

"I love you daddy!" Rose screamed

"I hope you can come visit soon" He said

"I hope so too" I said

"Bye" My Dad said

"Bye" I said

Then I hung up.

"Where's your dad?" Helia asked

"New York" I said

"Woah, that's kind of far from where we live" Helia said

"I know, it's like a 9 hour drive" I said

"Do you miss him?" Helia asked

"Definitely. I miss him so much" I said

"Yeah, why does Daddy have to live so far away?" Rose asked

"Like I told you when he left, he had no choice" I told her

"Rose, maybe you should make him a letter or something that you can send to him" Jamie said

"Oooo! That's a good idea!" Rose said

The next morning, I woke up to a 6:30am wake up call. I quickly got up, got dressed, then dressed the kids. We met helia downstairs at the breakfast table. Nobody was up yet except for us and a few other families. The 4 of us sat at our large table, but only 4 seats were taken. We grabbed a quick breakfast, then went up to pack. I met Helia back down by the front desk.

"Hi, we'd like to check out" Helia said handing the guy by the front desk keys

"Okay, we hope you and your wife enjoyed your stay here with us" He said to Helia

"Actually I'm not his…" I started

"we actually give a buy one night get the next free deal to any families who come for the Thanksgiving holidays, better take that off your bill" The man said

Helia and I looked at each other, then shrugged.

"Isn't that wonderful honey?" Helia said putting his arm around me

"Yes of course! You're such a good husband!" I said playing along with it.

As we walked away we began laughing.

"When life gives you free stuff, you take it!" Helia said

We got our stuff then head back to the valet. Helia's car was already parked out front, because we'd called it in. Helia loaded the trunk with our stuff, as I put the 2 still asleep girls in their car seats.

That was the 2nd person that thought we were a family. I started to feel a tingly feeling inside, it felt good.

I started to picture Helia and I coming here when we're actually married, with actual kids of our own. Where we could actually kis…

"Flora! Flora! Earth to Flora!" Helia said snapping his fingers in front of my face

"What? Oh, sorry, still half asleep" I said

"I wanted to know if you were ready to go" Helia said

"Yeah" I said getting into the passenger seat, buckling my seatbelt.

Helia put the key into the ignition, pulling out of the parking lot. I looked back at the hotel, the hotel that I had fallen in love with. I'm going to miss everybody so much!

As we neared the turn instead of Helia turning left like he was supposed to…he turned right.

"Uhhh Helia, I know that you're the driver and all, but I think you're going the wrong way" I said

"No we're not" He said

"yeah we are, that way is home" I told him

A smile crept onto his face

"Who says we're going home" Helia said

"Then where are we going?" I asked, confused

"New York City"

**Hope you liked it!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey so lately there's been something on my mind. It's been clouding up my thoughts to a point where I can't even write stories. Instead of talking about it, I've decided that maybe if I write it off, maybe I could conquer it. Before I begin I just have a confession to make. In my previous stories, I may have told you that I had a boyfriend. The truth is, I've never had a boyfriend, ever. I said it because I wanted to know what it felt like to get to say that. I've never gone on a date, or been kissed. Recently, my best friend Lilly just got asked out by this guy that A LOT of girls in my school want to date. I'm really VERY happy for her, I mean she so deserves it. She doesn't flaunt herself around, and she's like the sweetest most innocent girl I've ever met (king of like Flora). I just can't help but feel this…thing…inside of me. My heart breaks every time I think about it, because it just reminds me that I'm ugly and that I don't appeal to guys. My best friends told me that I shouldn't feel like that because I'm funny and fun to be with, especially when I get them into "insane situations", but…maybe funny just isn't enough. People just can't see through my smiles and laughter, that I'm really so upset Now that you've all heard my little story, I'm going to update this story today, then I'll be mainly focusing on my other story, Flame and Dragon. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 14:**

"New York City!" I screamed

Helia nodded

"Yes, now keep your voice down before you wake up the girls" Helia said

"Are you insane! That's like a 9 hour trip back!" I whispered frantically

"Well it's only 2 hours away from here, I figure if we go up there now, see your dad, head back by 3ish we could be back by midnight" Helia said

I put my fingers through my hair.

"No, no, we cant do this" I said shaking my head

"Just shut up and go with it" Helia told me

"Fine, on one condition" I said

"And what would that be?" Helia asked

"I pay for Micky D's" I said

Helia started laughing

"Deal" He said

We drove for 2 hours, the girl's finally waking up.

"Good morning sleeping beauty's" I said

"Good morning Flora" Rose said

"Are we almost home?" Jamie asked

"Actually there's been a bit of a change of plans, we're not going home" I said

"Then where are we going?" Rose asked

"It's a surprise" I said in a singy tone

"Oh come on Flora, please tell us" Jamie said

"Pllleeeaaassseeee" Rose said, giving me puppy dog eyes

"Don't give in Flora, fight the cuteness!" Helia said putting 1 hand over my eyes, and 1 hand on the wheel.

I started laughing.

"Helia! 2 hands on the wheel!" I screamed

"Yeah, yeah, mom" He said

"You just got your license, if we get caught doing that you're going to get in a load of trouble" I told him

"Yeah, yeah" Helia repeated

"Really Flora! Tell us" Jamie pleaded

"Oh! I got it! We're going to Disney Land!" Rose screamed

"Yayyyyyyy!" Jamie screamed

"No, we're not going to Disney Land" I said

"Awww….then where?" Rose said

"It's a surprise" I said

"Okay" The girls said defeated

I looked out the window, listening to the music that came out of the car's sterio.

"Ooo! Punch buggy yellow, no punch back!" I screamed as a yellow buggy car came driving passed us.

I lightly punched Helia in the arm.

"Hey!" Helia screamed giving me a light punch back

"I said no punch back!" I screamed

"I care because…?" He asked

"I'm kind off hungry, do you think we can get some cereal?" Rose asked

I looked at Helia.

"The girls never got to eat yet" I told him

Helia nodded

"We'll stop at 7eleven" Helia said

Helia pulled into the first 7eleven he saw.

All 4 of us went in.

"Get anything you want, we cant make any more stops for another 4 hours" Helia told us

I went to the back and grabbed a few bags of Fritos, then I went to the slurpee machine and got a medium sized slurpee that had coke, dr pepper, and cherry in it.

"Ready" I said going up to the counter where Helia was

"A slurpee? Really?" He asked putting his coffee down

"What?" I asked taking a sip

"It's 9:30am" He said

I shrugged

"Where are the girls?" Helia asked

"Getting candy I think" I said

"Come on Jamie! Push!" I heard Rose scream

"I am pushing! This thing weighs like 80 pounds!" I heard Jamie scream

"Okay Jamie, on the count of 3 we lift it" I heard Rose say

"1, 2, 3!" Jamie screamed

I turned around and saw them holding this HUGE teddy bear. It was like 2 times their size, and 3 times their height.

My eyes widened.

"Girls! What are you doing!" I screamed as Helia and I ran over to them lifting the heavy bear off the girls.

"We wanted to buy it. Helia said we can get whatever we wanted" Jamie said innocently

"Yeah, isnt it pretty?" Rose said looking at us with her hypnotizing eyes.

Helia and I looked at each other, then back down at the bear, then back up at each other.

"Please Helia?" Jamie asked

Helia sighed, taking his wallet out.

"By the time we get home I'm going to be broke" Helia said as he put the bear on the counter.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Jamie squealed hugging Helia

"Yeah! Thanks Helia! You're the best!" Rose squealed  
>Helia smiled<p>

"I know, I know" Helia said

I smiled, watching as he paid 50 dollars for a stuffed animal. I bit my lip, feeling a blush come to my face. He made me feel all tingly inside.

"Flora, are you okay? You look flush" Helia said taking a look at my face

"Huh? Oh…oh ummm….just a little nervous for when I see you know who" I said, keeping the secret going for Rose and Jamie

Helia smiled reassuringly.

"No sweat, this is supposed to be fun" Helia said with a wink

"Fun? Hmmmmm…maybe we're going to a concert!" Rose screamed

Helia shook his head

"Come on people, let's hit the road" I said lifting Rose and Jamie and running out to the car, Helia however, was lifting the 80 pound bear he's just bought for the girls.

"I just realized how much we spoil the girls" I told Helia, getting into the front seat.

"Just now?" Helia asked

We both started to laugh

Rose and Jamie sat with the huge bear in between then.

We got back on the main road, joining the long line of people going toward the highway.

"Are you sure about this Helia?" I asked

"For the millionth time, yes" Helia said

I sipped my slurpee.

"Yeah but I mean with gas money, and I'm wasting your time, and your parents will probably kill you, are you sure it's worth it?" I asked

"Flora, just shut up and get comfortable. I'm 100 and a million percent positive that this is a good idea" Helia said reassuringly

I smiled

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.

"Whose that?" Helia asked

I checked the screen

"Text from Layla" I said happily

"What time should we expect you back 2day?" the text said

"Actually, slight change of plans, Helia's taking me 2 NYC 2 see my dad, so I probably wont be back until midnight, possibly later" I texted back

"Awwww! That's so sweet!" Layla texted back

"I know, he's such a nice guy" I texted back

"What are you talking about?" Helia asked

"We're talking about how Layla and Nabu are planning to elope" I stated with a straight face

Helia slammed on the breaks.

"What?" He screamed

I started cracking up as cars began to honk us.

"Kidding" I said

Helia began driving normally again

"Not funny" He said

"So funny" I said picturing his face again

We hit traffic, not moving an inch.

"There's an accident up ahead" Helia stated, pointing up

We just stopped moving all together

"We're soooo bored" Rose whined

"Rose, Helia just got you a big present, why don't you play with that?" I said

"Because, we cant climb on him! We're strapped down" Rose said back

"I'm sorry, what would you like to do then?" I asked them

"Uhhhh….watch a movie!" Jamie said

"We don't have any movies" Helia said

"It's okay, you and Flora can be the movie" Rose suggested, with a smile

Helia and I looked at each other then shrugged.

"Yay! We already prepared cue cards for you guys!" Jamie said handing us cards with neatly written handwriting on them

"Where did you get these?" I asked

"Chelsea helped us make them! Back at the hotel! She said that if we got bored we should give these to you and tell you to make a movie for us" Jamie said

"Okay, this is not going to be good" Helia said

"Just start! Please?" Rose said

"Okay, okay" I said

Helia, one hand on the wheel, the other on the card began to read

"Wow Flora, your beauty is like a thousand daisies on a hot summers day" Helia stated, trying to hold back his laughter

"Ha-ha-ha-ha, cue nervous laughter" I stated

Everybody started cracking up

"Oh! I wasn't supposed to say that!" I said laughing too

"Helia, now you" Rose said, the 2 girls watching closely

"Flora, I've always wanted to tell you how much I've loved you. I love your cute laugh, and your huge appetite, and your….sexy hair…" Helia stated in a monotonous voice

We all began to laugh, my face going flush

"Helia, I feel the same way about you! In fact every morning I get up early so I can catch a glimpse of your…abs" I stated, trying hard not to laugh

"Well I already knew that" Helia said, not reading from the cards

"I do not!" I said back

"Just keep going, it's getting good!" Jamie said

"Okay, okay! Flora, would it be alright if I placed a kiss on your cheek?" Helia asked, reading from the card  
>"No, because I would prefer it on my lips" I read, my cheeks flaring up again, and my voice catching in my throat at the next line on the sheet<p>

"Cue passionate kiss" I read

"Yeahhhhh! Kiss! Kiss!" Rose and Jamie cheered

Helia shrugged, then placed a kiss on my cheek

My eyes shot open, my cheeks becoming an all new red unknown to science

"Ummm Helia, did you not hear what Flora said! She'd prefer it on her lips!" Jamie said encouragingly

"I'm driving" Helia said

"No you're not, we're not even moving" Rose said

Helia looked me in the eye, then back at the girls.

"Helia you have to do it!" Rose screamed

I bit my lip

"I'm not going to do it, sorry" Helia told them

"Fine!" The 2 girls whined

I was speechless…I guess Helia doesn't want to kiss me. Am I really that bad? He cant even kiss me for fake?

I laid my head down on the window, shutting my eyes. Might as well pretend to sleep, I really don't want to have to talk to him.

I looked behind me and saw that the 2 girls had mimicked me, shutting their eyes and laying their heads on the bear.

"Flora?" Helia said tapping me

"I'm gonna take a nap" I told him, faking a yawn

"Okay, here's a blanket" He said handing me a blanket.

I thanked him with a smile, laying my head down again

This is kind of comfortable….and I did wake up early…I guess I am kind of tired…..

**I know it's short, but I had to put SOMETHING up, sorry.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys, I am totally over my little gloom fest. I'm back, I'm better, and I'm ready to dish out some romantic comedy! **

**Chapter 15:**

_I woke, wiping my eyes. I slowly lifted my head off the car window. _

"_Good morning sleeping beauty" Helia said from the front seat. _

_I yawned_

"_Morning" I said _

_I turned myself around to check on the girls. Still sleeping. _

"_Maybe we should wake the girls, if they sleep to much, they'll be up all night" I said reaching my hand out to shake Rose. _

_Helia quickly took my hand and moved it away._

"_They're fine" Helia said, I turned around and faced him. _

"_and besides, it'll give us time alone" Helia said, his hand still clasped around mine. _

_I stared deep into his midnight blue eyes, caught off guard. _

"_Oh..I…I" I stuttered, unable to move my gaze _

_Helia took his other hand and moved a strand of hair behind my ear._

"_Flora, you know, that day when I had you pinned down on the bed," Helia started moving forward. With every inch he went closer, I inched backward. Soon enough, I was pinned against the car door. His face was inches from mine, and all I could stare at were his lips._

"_Maybe I wasn't joking" Helia whispered_

_Before I knew it, I had a pair of soft lips on mine. My eyes shot open, but then I slowly began to shut them. It was such a good, passionate kiss. I moaned in pleasure, wrapping my arms around his neck. We broke as Helia held back my hair. And began to move down to my neck. He sent kisses up my neck, then onto my jaw, then back onto my lips. This, was pure bliss. _

_Then, _

_I woke up. _

My head snapped up, so suddenly I hit my head on the ceiling of the car.

"What's wrong? Bad dream?" Helia asked, giving me a look of confusion

No, it was the best dream I've ever had.

"yeah" I lied

How could that have been a dream? It just….it felt so real.

I moved my hand up to my lips, tracing the outline of my lips. There was a tingling sensation on it.

Rose POV

My eyes fluttered open, as I realized I was still in the car. Without a sound, I took a look to the front. Helia sat silently, driving the car. Flora had her head down and I could hear a light snore coming from her

Flora turned over, mumbling something I couldn't understand. It was very slurred.

I smiled, still quiet.

Helia laughed, putting his hand on Flora's cheek.

"H…." I began, but was cut off. Helia couldn't even hear me.

"Flora" He said….or should I say moan.

"Sometimes you just drive me crazy" He said shaking his head.

Then, something happened, something amazing!

He leaned down and placed a small kiss on her lips.

My eyes shot open, and it took all my power not to scream in happiness.

Helia got back up and laughed, looking at the road again.

Helia DOES like Flora! Who should I tell first? Jamie? But wait…..if I tell people, they probably wont believe me. I'm just a dumb old first grader. I guess I just have to wait for Helia to make his move.

Flora POV

We had been driving for hours by now, and the kids were beginning to get antsy. After that dream, I was beginning to get antsy to.

"Flora! I can't feel my butt!" Rose whined

We all couldn't help but laugh

"Move it around a bit" I told her

She began doing hip swivels in her seat.

As we drove past the bridge, out of the corner of my eye I could see the statue of liberty. I took my phone and snapped a picture.

"So, have you told your mom where we are?" I asked

"Yeah, she said it's fine as long as we don't talk to strangers and we keep a good eye on the girls" Helia said

I nodded

We got into New York, making our way past Madison Square Garden, the Empire State Building, and much much more.  
>"Hold on a second. I saw this place on TV once! We're in New York!" Jamie screamed<p>

"New York? But that means….DADDY!" Rose screamed

Helia and I started smiling

"Correct" Helia said

"We're really going to see Daddy? Yay! Oh I cant wait!" Rose said

"Now you can give him your drawings Rose" Jamie said

"Oh yeah! This is so great! I love you Flora! Thank you!" Rose screamed

"It's not me you should be thanking, it's Helia" I said

"Thank you Helia! I love you too!" Rose screamed

Helia laughed

"Okay, just try not to explode. We'll be pulling up to the house very shortly" Helia said with a smile

As we made it down the block….my stomach began to churn. Should I have called him? Maybe he's doing something important...

Helia finally turned into the small narrow driveway of my father's home. It was desent looking, not to classy, yet not garbage. I like it.

This is it. Time to go see my Dad.

**I know it's REALLY short, and I am soooo sorry. It's just that I really wanted to update. Hope you enjoyed it!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks for all the reviews! I love you guys!**

**Chapter 16:**

My hand slowly, but hesitantly reached out to the doorbell. I was about to touch it, but then I rethought it.

"You know what Helia, I don't think this is such a good idea after all" I said turning around and walking back toward the car. Helia grabbed my arm, sharply turning me around. He then got behind me putting his hands on my shyoulders and began pushing me forward.

"Flora, I just drove 6 hours for you, you sure as hell think this is a good idea" Helia said

"No, no" I said, digging my heels into the dirt.

"Come on Flora! I want to see daddy!" Rose screamed pulling my right arm forward, and Jamie pulling my left arm forward.

"No, I really don't think we should do this you guys" I said

"Helia, I think it's time to get serious" Jamie said

"I was just thinking that" Helia said

"Wait? What's getting seriouAAAHHHHH!" I screamed as Helia threw me over his shoulder.

"Helia! Put me down!" I screamed

"I'm doing this for your own good Flora" Helia said

"Yeah! Let's go!" Rose screamed running back up the drive way toward the door.

Traitor.

I shimmied out of Helia's grasp, then I began to run across the grass.

"Flora!" Helia, Rose, and Jamie screamed running after me.

They all jumped on me, pinning me down.

Suddenly, my dad's front door opened, revealing my father shaking a women's hand. Then he turned around and saw us.

"Flora?" He said

The 4 of us looked up, still in our position on the grass.

"Uhhh…I…I.." I said when I saw the women

There was a long awkward silence.

"DADDY!" Rose screamed running at my dad with full force

"Rosie!" My dad screamed picking her up and twirling her around into a hug

Helia and I got up, walking over to the door. I didn't even look at my dad, all I could see was the women standing next to him.

"Flora" My dad said releasing me from my trance.

"Huh?Oh DAD!" I screamed running to him with a hug.

We pulled back, my dad smiling ear to ear

"What are you guys doing here?" My dad asked

"Well we were in the neighborhood so…" I said

"Flora, you were in the neighborhood?" My dad said with a "this auta be good" look

"Okay, so not really, but who cares! We're here!" I screamed hugging him again

"How did you get here, you don't get your license until August" My dad said

"Well I had some help from a…friend" I said turning around to Helia. He was just watching from a distance, watching our little reunion

"Friend? Wait a second…is this the Helia guy Rose was talking about?" My Dad asked

"That's the one" Rose said with a smile

"It was very….neighborly of bringing them here" My Dad said to Helia

"No problem at all. After all, what are neighbors for, right?" He asked, looking me in the eye

I blushed a deep red.

I took another glance at the women my dad had been shaking my Dad's hand. She was brunet, skinny, fierce green eyes. Her eyes….they almost seemed familiar.

My Dad saw me staring

"Oh, Suzan was just leaving" My dad said to the women

"Yes, of course. So I guess it's a deal, correct" The women, apparently named Suzan asked, a stern look in her eye as if Helia, Rose, Jamie, and I weren't supposed to know something.

"We'll discuss this later" My Dad said, the same stern look in his voice, and his eyes.

Suzan nodded, walking toward a car parked in the front. She got in and drove away, leaving me with a big question.

What just happened?

Helia and I looked at each other, thinking the same thing

"So…who was that?" I asked

"Nobody, why don't you come in for some hot chocolate or something. You guys must be freezing" My dad said, changing the subject.

"Oooo that's sounds awesome!" Rose said running in with Jamie

Helia walked in after them.

"Who was that Dad?" I asked again, once they all left

"Nobody" My dad said again

"Dad" I said

"Flora' He said walking over to me and bringing me into a hug

He pulled back then kissed my forehead

"Just forget about it okay? Why don't we go inside?" My dad said.

He smiled, walking into the house.

Something's not right about that Suzan girl.

I walked inside the house, toward where my dad had headed. There was a small living room that had couches and tables, and a tv, and a small kitchen, and 3 bedrooms.

My Dad led me into the kitchen, where Rose and Jamie sat drinking hot chocolate.

"Good, you found the kitchen" My dad said

"Daddy, it's so great to see you again. I missed you sooooo much!" Rose said

"I missed you too" He said kissing her again

"Oh Daddy, I forgot to introduce you to Jamie" Rose said

Jamie smiled brightly  
>"It's nice to meet you Jamie" My Dad said<br>"You too! Rose told me all about how nice you are" Jamie said

"Jamie's my BFFTHACOBTWMTBBFMOS" Rose said

We all looked at the 2 girls with a confused expression

"My best friend forever that has a cute older brother who would make the best boyfriend for my older sister" Rose announced

My face turned bright red

"Since the mood is so happy, I'm going to pretend I never heard that" My dad said

"Hey! I have an idea! Why don't we play a game!" Rose said

We played all sorts of games from Life, to Battleship, to even Monopoly. Helia probably thought my family was weird.

"Flora, we should probably be heading back in a half an hour" Helia told me, as we were putting away all of the games

I nodded

"You guys have to leave so soon? Why don't you just stay the night?" My dad asked

"Sorry, we have school tomorrow" I said sadly

"Oh it's alright. Just promise me you'll come see me again soon" My dad said

"Of course" I said

My Dad and I got up to put the games away. We walked to the closet.

"So Dad, I know you told me to drop it and all but…who's Suzan?" I asked

"Flora, not this again" My dad said

I put my hands on my hips

"What? Is she your girlfriend or something? I'm not a baby any more Dad, you don't have to keep things like this from me" I said

"She's not my girlfriend. You're mom is the only women I've ever loved" My dad said with a reassuring smiled

"and the women you walked out on us for" I mumbled under my breath

Oh my god, did I really just say that?

My eyes widened at what I'd just said, and my dad had the same expression on his face.

"Flora, your mother is the only one that I ever TRULLY loved" My dad said turning to leave

"Dad, I..I..I'm sorry" I said, in my soft voice

He turned back around

"It's fine, I deserve it" He said, a look o torture in his eyes

"Dad…we never really talked about what happened" I said

I've always wanted to talk to my dad about what had happened, but I've never had the courage.

"What more is there to say Flora. I was an unfaithful moron, and I lead your mother to….." He said, his voice breaking

"Dad, it is NOT your fault" I said

"You want to know what happened Flora?" My dad asked, shutting the closet door behind him, so Rose wouldn't hear.

I have to admit, I was a little scared. I felt tears coming up in my eyes.

"I was stupid, I was drunk, and somehow 1 thing lead to another and everything just got all messed up" My dad said

"I just have a question for you Dad" I said looking down

"Did you do it a lot of times before mom found out? Did you cheat more than once?" I asked, my voice cracking

"Yes" My dad said softly

I covered my mouth as tears started to flow

"That can't be true! You're so much better than that!" I screamed

"Flora, you have to understand. I wasn't right at the time okay? Your mother and I were going through some tough times. We were planning on getting a divorce anyways" My dad said

"Oh my god" I said

"Flora, we couldn't tell you. You were 7 and Rose had just been born" My Dad said

I turned around and opened the door.

"I'm sorry okay, but this is just a little bit to much for me to handle for 1 day" I said walking out.

"Flora' My dad said coming after me

"I'm not mad at you Dad, just a little surprised" I said

My dad didn't say anything.

I went into the living room where Rose, Jamie, and Helia were.

"Flora? What happened?" Rose asked when she saw my tear streaked face.

Helia looked up at me concerned

"I…I fell and stubbed my toe. I think it's time for us to go" I said

Helia got out digging the keys out of his pocket

"But Flora….don't you want to stay a little longer?" Rose asked

"If we're going to make it to school we have to get going" I told her. When I saw those disappointed blue eyes of hers I felt even more tears in my eyes.

She nodded sadly

"Just go say bye to Daddy" I told her

"Arn't you coming?" She asked

"I've already said goodbye" I said, looking my Dad's way.

He sighed.  
>"Helia, can I have the keys?" I asked<p>

He walked over to me handing me the keys.

"What happened?" He whispered into my ear so only I could hear

"I'll tell you later" I whispered

I went out to the car, unlocking it, and getting into the passenger seats.

I sat in the silent car, looking around. Nobody was here.

"Ahhhhhh!" I screamed on the top of my lungs letting out my anger/sadness/confusion/shame.

I put my head into my lap, my hair covering me up. Kind of like a shell.

I looked up and saw Rose and Jamie in their jackets coming down to the car. On the porch stood Helia, talking with my father. God help me.

Helia's POV

What in the world is going on? One second everything is all good and sunny then next thing I know Flora comes out crying.

"Helia, can I have the keys?" She asked me

I gave her the keys, watching her leave the house.

Rose went over to Mr. Linphea, hugging him with everything she had.

"I'll miss you" She said

"You too" Mr. Linphea said

He put Rose back down.

Rose went over to Jamie, the 2 of them walking out.

I went out onto the porch, following out after them. stopped me, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Helia, do you think you can do something for me?" He asked

I nodded

"Tell Flora I said that Suzan is a real estate agent. She's selling me house that's a block away from their house. I wanted to be closer to them. It's nothing more than that" He said

"Yeah, of course" I said with a nod

I turned to leave.

"Oh, and tell her I said, I love her" He said

I nodded, walking back to the car. I got in, and drove off, leaving on the porch, looking after us.

"Believe me Flora, it's much, much, more than that" said to himself.

Flora POV

Helia got into the car. He probably thinks I'm some kind of psychopath.

I quickly wiped away the last of my tears.

He was silent as he got in. The whole car was in fact. Even the kids. It was weird.

We drove for a good 3 hours like this. Not a sound, not a movement. Just, silence.

At 8:30 the girls fell asleep.

"What happened?" Helia asked

"My Dad…I just…I really don't want to talk about it" I said

"You're dad wanted me to tell you that Suzan was just a real estate agent that's selling him a house close by us. He wants to move close to us. Nothing more than a real estate agent" Helia said

My eyes widened

"He's moving?" I asked my eyes wide

"Also, I love you" Helia said

My throat suddenly got hoarse

"W..what?" I asked

"Your dad said that he loves you" He said

I felt my heart drop

"What is love? Something that only lasts for a few weeks then suddenly you find something else to love?" I said looking out the window

Helia looked at me, confused, but suddenly catching my drift

"Love isn't food" Helia said

"Huh?" I asked looking at him

"After you've eaten too much of it, you're suddenly sick of it and into a different kind of food" Helia said

"Seems you're the only one that thinks that. Obviously, some people just don't like to eat potato chips ALL the time. Suddenly they find interest in Taco chips, and those taco chips have no authority to take potato chips man. But suddenly, man's all about Taco chips. Suddenly, man comes back home to potato chip at 4am drunk. Suddenly, man walks out on potato chips and her kids and they don't see him for 9 years. They don't see him till Potato Chip gets eaten, and is suddenly gone forever" I said, my voice cracking at the end

"Well maybe man was feeling overwhelmed. Just because man made a mistake, doesn't mean love still can't be something real" Helia said

"Why did this have to happen?" I asked Helia

"Look Flora, everything happens for a reason. Maybe, your dad not being there for you when you're a kid, is a good thing. Now he is here for you and he loves you, and he wants things to be normal between you guys" Helia said

"I want that too. But, I just don't understand how something like this could have happened. My dad, he's such a good man. And my mom…I really thought they were the perfect couple" I said

There was a long silence

"Love is a good feeling" I said

Helia nodded

"I'm so happy I have Rose. Rose is the closets thing I'm getting to love. Rose, and the girls" I said, referring to my friends

Helia smiled

"But can you kiss them?" Helia asked

"Of course I can kiss Rose" I said with a laugh

"What I have with them is a different type of love. That's a family type of love" He said

"How was your first love?" I asked him, but suddenly regretted it.

"It wasn't real" He said with a shrug

I looked up, intrigued

"I was 16 and it lasted for 3 months" Helia said

"Did you kiss her?" I asked

"Yeah, but it wasn't anything special" Helia said with a shrug

"What about you?" Helia asked

"What about me?" I asked

"How was your first kiss?" Helia asked

"Don't know, never had it yet" I said

Helia laughed

"You're kidding right?" He asked  
>"Afraid not" I said with a shrug<p>

"You're like the only high school kid that's never kissed anybody" Helia said

"What can I say, I'm one of a kind" I said with a laugh

"Oh yeah, you sure are" Helia said

When we got back to the house it was 12:45. Helia helped me get Rose and I's things into the house.

"Thanks Helia" I said

"No problem" He said

"No, it was a problem. That was one of the nicest things anybody's ever done for me" I said

"It didn't exactly go as planned" He said

"The conversation between my Dad and I was bound to happen sometime" I said with a shrug

"I'm just sorry you had to see the whole ugly mess" I said

"I'm used to it. Have you met my family?" Helia said

I laughed

Helia leaned down, taking my arm. My heart began to pound as he got closer. Tell me he's going to kiss me! Our lips were about to touch, when suddenly Helia's eyes closed and he pulled back.

I stood there stunned.

He cleared his throat

"Uhh goodnight" He said turning around and walking back toward his house

Why did he stop? I kind of…wanted him to kiss me. It was like he wasn't allowed to kiss me, or maybe it pained him to think he was about to kiss a girl like me. Well, that was kind of a let down.

I brought Rose upstairs. I had her in my arms, going up into her room.

I laid her down on the bed, careful not to make a sound.

"Flora, can I sleep with you in your bed tonight?" I heard Rose mumble

"Rose? I thought you were asleep" I said turning around

"I wasn't, I just didn't feel like walking" She said rubbing her eyes tiredly

"Okay, come on kiddo" I said lifting her back up.

We got settled in my bed, Rose wrapped comfortably in my arms.

"Rose" I said, rubbing her back soothingly

"Yeah?" She asked

"We'll be together forever, and nothing can break us apart, okay" I said

"Okay…." She mumbled, dozing off.

What happened to my parents will not happen to Rose and I. Not Helia, not my friends, nothing. Because, at the end of the day it really comes down to this. I am Rose's mother. Mother's don't abandon their children. That's a promise.

**Kind of depressing, I know. Hope you liked it! I'll have a new chapter of "The Infinitive 9" up tomorrow. I was thinking of writing a story for Sailormoon, if any of you are interested in that show. I already have a story line in mind in fact. Maybe I'll post it after I finish this story, or maybe when I get towards the end of this story, which will be soon. I'm not sure how long though.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Thanks for all of the reviews, hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 17:**

"Flora-ora-ora-ora!" Stella sang as they spotted me through the thick clod of students walking through the hallways

I turned around recognizing the voice.

"Hey you guys!" I said happily as Stella came at me with a hug

"Hey Flora, how was your vacation?" Musa asked

"Very…interesting" I said

"What does that mean?" Bloom asked curiously

"Lets just say…Helia almost got killed by a moose" I said, closing my locker

We started to walk down the halls, my books in hand.

"You're kidding right" Tecna asked

"I'm afraid not" I said as we all laughed

Suddenly, I felt my foot getting caught on something, and my body falling forward after me.

"Woahhh!" I screamed as my books scattered on the floor and my body hit the ground.

"My bad, didn't see you there Flora" Taylor said putting her foot back in. Taylor was wearing her cheerleading uniform, flipping her hair back.

"Must have been the gleam of your ego" Musa said

"Good one Musa, but it was actually the gleam of your ugly clashing with my beauty" Taylor said

"Taylor, word to the wise, never recycle a joke" Musa said

"Well it's nice to see you to Taylor" I said, rolling my eyes as I got up

Layla picked up my books for me.

"Hey, check it out you guys, Kate number 2 is here without her leader! What happened? Did you have a fight? Talk to aunty Layla" Layla said sarcastically

"Oh shut up!" Taylor said

"Woah there peppy, no need to get your pom poms in a twist" Layla said

"She's…well you can take a look for yourself" Taylor said pointing behind us

We all turned to see Kate talking..or should I say flirting with Helia.

I started laughing, watching as Helia tried to brush her off.

"Jealous laughing, how adorable" Taylor said

I continued laughing.

"Let's just go, come on" I said pulling my friends away as I continued to laugh.

We were all laughing histerically.

I watched Helia's face, and how he tried to tell her in the nicest way possible, that he wasn't interested.

We walked away, toward where the boys were.

"Hey Brandon" Stella said happily

"Hey boyfriend" Layla said placing a kiss on Nabu's cheek

"Hey girlfriend" Nabu said

The girls all greeted their boyfriends happily.

"Have you guys seen Helia? He left the locker room early" Sky said

"Poor guy, Kate's tort..I mean talking to him" Tecna said

We all laughed

"Really, Helia told me himself that Kate throws herself at him" I said shaking my head

"Does she have anything better to do with her life?"

"Well, between all her torturing and envying of Flora, she has to do SOMETHING" Musa said sarcastically

Helia started to walk back to our group.

"So, what was that, 13, 14th time she's asked you out?" Sky asked him

"Who knows, whenever she walks up to me sometimes I just like to zone out her talking, occasionally nodding my head. Eventually she goes away" Helia said

We all started laughing

"I feel for you Helia, I really do" Stella said patting Helia on the shoulder

We all began to walk through the hallway

"So, is your dad in yet?" Helia whispered to me

"Yeah, he'll be there when I get home" I whispered back

"Did you patch stuff up with him?" Helia asked

"I guess, I'm just gonna put a smile on so Rose doesn't get effected" I whispered

Helia nodded

"Well, time to split up for first period, see ya" Layla said pulling my arm away

Layla, Stella, Bloom, and I began walking toward our English class.

"So what were you 2 talking about back there?" Bloom asked nudging me playfully

"Homework" I said with a shrug

"I'm not convinced. They were probably talking about meeting tonight on Flora's roof, then they'll kiss and get together, and get married, and have kids, and name one of them Stella!" Stella said with a twirl of excitement

"The other will be named Bloom" Bloom said

"I call one kid!" Layla screamed

I stood there, my eyes wide. They were calling my kids.

"I'm not getting married you guys!" I said with a laugh

"Well you had a little family road trip for 4 days so I figure you guys are already one step ahead" Stella said

"it wasn't a family roadtrip, it was a…..friendly road trip" I said

"Excuses, excuses. Now come on, let's get in there before Ms. Grizelda gives me another detention" Stella said pushing Layla and I in

"Hate to say it Stella, but you kind of deserved the last one" Layla said

"Jeez, you blow the lab up 1 time and suddenly everyone's hot stuff" Stella mumbled

I laughed as we took our seats.

Later that day, I was heading into my Math class. It was my last period of the day and we were taking a test. I ended up taking a few minutes more than I usually do. When I got out of the class room I found that the girls had already left. They probably thought that I had left already. Whatever I guess I'll just walk.

Today must be my lucky day, because just as I was about to leave the boy's locker room door opened. All the football players came out looking sweaty. That's weird..they don't have football practice today as far as I know.

I searched through the crowd of cheerleaders and football players and finally spotted the person I was looking for.

"Helia!" I called

Helia looked around trying to find the source of my voice. When he saw me he smiled and waved.

"Hey" He said

"Helia, would you like to perform a good dead for your local neighbor?" I asked

He raised an eyebrow, crossing his arm, and leaning against the wall

"Keep talking" He said

"Do you think you can give me a ride home?" I asked

Helia laughed

"Let's go" Helia said walking out towards the parking lot.

I followed him toward the small black car I know all to well. I got into the passenger seat.

"Weird being in here and Rose and Jamie not being in the backseat nonstop talking" I said

Helia nodded

"You do know that every single guys and girl on the football team and or the cheerleading squad now know we're neighbors right?" Helia said

I suddenly snapped my head up, toward the front of the school. The cheerleaders and jocks were all staring at us as Helia pulled out.

I smacked my forhead.

"Sorry, I really forgot" I told him

"It's not like I was embarrassed or anything. I was just saying…for your sake" Helia said

"My…sake?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I said sake

"You do realize that 1 forth or the cheerleading squad wants to murder you right now" Helia said with a laugh

"Why?" I asked confused

Helia just laughed

"Flora, you're so clueless to these types of things" He said with a laugh

"Hey! Don't laugh at me! Really, tell me!" I said, giving him a playful smack on the arm

"Isn't it obvious? They hate you, cause I'm driving you home. They're jealous" Helia said

"Jealous? Of what? The fact that I get to see how much of a pig," I said lifting up an empty slurpee cup out of the cup holder

"You are" I finished

"Yeah, Flora, hate to brake it to you, but that's you're slurpee cup" Helia said

"Ooooohhhh yeahhh! Oh wow…that was a good slurpee!" I said, remembering it

Helia and I started laughing as he pulled into his driveway.

We got out of the car, turning opposite ways. I placed my hands on my waist.

"What? No escort?" I asked sarcastically

"I would gladly" Helia said going with it

I laughed as Helia walked over to me, and took my arm. The look on his face, he just made my day.

I was laughing the whole time as Helia walked me toward my door.

"Oh wait, I forgot the big finish" Helia said

"Big fini…?" I said but was cut off by Helia lifting me up bridal style.

I was laughing so hard by then, I didn't even take a chance to take it all in. Helia was carrying me! Bridal style! Like…like…like a honeymoon!

Wait…erase that from my thoughts.

We got to the door and I saw that it was open. Right by the door he stood.

My Dad

**For today I kept it short and sweet, but we are reaching the breaking point of this story. There's only 3 or 4 chapters left then it's over. The last few chapters are going to be a bit…surprising. Hope you enjoy! Expect another chapter by Friday. **


	19. Chapter 19

**Quick update! Thanks for all the great reviews! Love you!**

**Chapter 18:**

"Flora….and boy that always seems to be with her" My Dad said when he saw me in Helia's arms

"And this is when I leave" Helia said putting me down

I smiled waving goodbye, then I turned toward my Dad

"Dad! I cant believe you actually moved out here! Rose is probably so hap…" I started but was cut off

"Daddy!" Rose screamed running across the Knightly's land. She had been at Jamie's house for a little bit after school, and I guess Helia told her there was a little surprise waiting for her.

"Rose!" My dad screamed catching her in his arms, spinning her around into a hug.

I looked behind my dad to see my Grandma and Grandpa smiling happily..and..and….that woman.

"S..?" I asked

"Oh I was just on my way out" Suzan said

I nodded, hesitantly.

"I'll be back later for you to sign the…real-estate papers" She said lifting some papers that were in her hands

My dad nodded

"All right" My Dad said

"But wait, don't you usually sign the papers before you move in?" I asked

"Yes…but I want to move in already and the owners weren't selling well" My Dad said

"That's not even possible, because I'm almost positive that the owners have to sign the contract before…" I started but was cut off

"Listen sweety, I graduated from real estate school, so I think I would know best" Suzan said, trying to sound as polite as possible

"I don't mean to be rude…but is there even a real estate school?" I asked

"Well duh, considering I went to one" Suzan said

"But something just doesn't seem….."

"Don't worry about it Flora. I'm here now, that's all that matters" My Dad said

"Right" I said

"I best be off. I hope you enjoy your new house" Suzan said

My Dad nodded as she headed towards her car, slipping the file into her bag. Then she drove off.

"I've moved into that house. Right over there" My Dad said pointing to the house next door

"Oh that's cool" I said with a smile

"Why don't we all go inside so we can get settled. Then maybe we can have a discussion about that Helia boy….."

We all sat and talked for what seemed like hours. We went over to my Dad's new house where he had already settled in. We sat in the beautiful new kitchen. Suddenly, my Dad's phone started ringing.

"You know what, I left my phone in my office! Flora, do you think you can just go get it for me?" My dad asked

"Of course, be back in a second" I said

I went over to my Dad's new office, which was a few rooms down from the kitchen. I went inside, and found his phone lying on top of a pile of papers.

I picked the phone up. It said Suzan on the caller ID.

I don't know if it was Stella's influence on me, or my intrigue…but I answered the phone.

"Hel…" I started in my high pitched voice but then cleared my throat and went into a deep voice

"Hello" I said faking a man's voice

"Paul. They found her" Suzan said, sounding ecstatic

Found her? Found who?

"Isn't that great?" Suzan asked

"What? Oh..oh yes! That's great!" I said

"The detective said that she's okay, and we'll get her back by tomorrow" Suzan said

"Oh, that's really great! I can't wait" I said, improvising

"I know! Finally, after 6 years of constant searching, we've found her!" Suzan said

I ran my fingers through my hair, looking down at the pile of papers scattered on the desk

"Ownership of 1127 Oakhill Drive" I whispered to myself, reading the top of the page. After I read this my eyes grew wide.

But…but didn't Suzan have the contract? Why is it here? Or better yet, why has my Dad and the old owner of the house already signed it…if my Dad said he hadn't? And…why is it signed Harriet Newman under the real-estate agent? Isn't Suzan Walker supposed to be on that line?

My Dad lied to me.

"What was that Paul?" Suzan asked, snapping me out of my train of thoughts

"Oh..oh I said that you should come over for dinner tonight" I said in my deep voice

Again, I'm not sure if it was Stella or my intrigue that was talking.

"I'm not sure if that's the best idea. I don't think Flora likes me very much" Suzan said

Oh no, I never meant to come off like that!

"Are you kidding? Flora loves you! Come on over…oh and uhh…bring the paper for me to sign" I said

"Alright, I'll see you later then" Suzan said hanging up

When I hung up I smacked my forehead.

What have I done?

I picked up the paper that had the ownership on it. I took out my phone and took a picture of it. I might need that in the future.

I can't believe my Dad lied to me about Suzan! What is going on? Who were they looking for? Well…who have they found is more like it.

"Flora?" My Dad called

I quickly put down the paper and grabbed the cell phone.

"Yeah Dad, here you go" I said handing him his phone

"What took you so long?" Rose asked

"Oh, actually it was that Suzan that keeps showing up. I invited her to dinner" I said, kind of twisting the story a bit.

My Dad's eyes grew big, but soon got smaller

"Alright, why I call in some pizza" My Dad said

I smiled nodding.

What really hurts is the fact that he's still lying to me.

"Yay! Pizza!" Rose said smiling

My Grandmother smiled

"Why don't we go back to the house" My Grandpa said

"Good idea, we should probably put on something nice since she's coming over" I told them

We headed back to the house where I showered and put on dark blue jeans and blue and gray striped shirt, with a white scarf, and black ballet flats. I put my hair down, clipping my bangs back.

My grandparents, Rose, and I went back to my Dad's house. In the front saw Suzan's car was already parked in the front. Alright Flora, no dilly dallying! You're here for 1 thing, and 1 thing only. I have to figure out what the file that Suzan had REALLY was.

When we got to the door, Rose jumped as high as she could hitting the doorbell. My Dad came and opened the door, Suzan next to him.

"Suzan, so nice to see you again" I said politely

"Likewise. Now, you must tell me, who is that boy that's always with you and Rose?" Suzan asked

"Helia" Rose said

"Helia? Now..is that your boyfriend or…."Suzan began

"Neighbor" I said

"Fiancé" Rose said

Every head snapped to her

"Neighbor" I repeated

"You promised you would marry him! Remember, on the first day of school" Rose said

"Flora?" My Dad screamed

"Dad, I'm not engaged! Rose, we'll finish this conversation afterwards…." I mumbled picking her up and bringing her inside.

"I'd say they're set for life, the way those 2 always flirt" My Grandmother mumbled to everyone, but I was too far away to hear

"Yeah, I'm going to need to have a conversation with this Helia boy" My Dad said

During dinner, I had my eyes focused on Suzan's bag the whole time. Whatever it is that I'm desperately searching for, is in that bag!

"This pizza is great" Suzan said

"Well I do shop at the finest pizza stores" My Dad said

We all started laughing

I like Suzan, I actually like her a lot. She's nice, and intelligent, and funny…and she makes my Dad happy.

If only she and my Dad didn't have this whole big secret!

Suddenly, an idea reached my head.

"Oh Suzan, why don't I take your bag into the other room for you? We want you to feel at home" I said

"Please Flora, sit and enjoy" Suzan said with a warm smile

I smiled back.

"So Suzan, how did you find this house? It's really a miracle because it's just perfect for Paul to live right here" My Grandpa said

"It's a gift. I just have a knack for Real-Estate!" Suzan said

"Yes you do" My Grandma agreed

Suddenly we heard some thunder outside, making Rose jump.

"Uh oh, looks like the big rainstorm is starting" My Dad said

"The news station said it wouldn't start till 10" Suzan said

"Well it is coming down out there" I said

"I have an idea! How about we go play the thunder game! I made it up!" Rose said

"That sounds great" Suzan said

Rose took her hand and lead everyone into the living room.

I looked both ways. This is my chance!

I went toward Suzan's bag, opening it up. I feel so dirty doing this. I feel like a fugitive.

I went through all of her stuff…but I couldn't find the file.

Hold on a second…this isnt the purse from this morning! The purse from this morning is in her….car.

I quickly shut the purse, and it's a good thing I did because just as I shut it, Suzan came in.

"Woops, forgot my purse. Oh and by the way, your father wanted me to tell you that I'm going to be staying over tonight. The news said to absolutely not go out in the rain storm" Suzan said

"That's great!" I said

After we played Rose's game, which actually ended up being fun, we went back to my Grandpaerents house. We literally ran for dear life.

I got into my pajamas, shorts and a tank top, then sat in my bed.

What if..what if she's like my Dad's doctor or something. That could totally make sense! But then why would he lie about it? Unless….unless…maybe he has cancer or something serious like that! Oh I have to know! I wont let the same thing that happened to my mother happen to him! I've got to do something!

I got up out of my bed, then quietly opened up my window. I climbed out, hastily climbing up my tree then sliding onto Helia's ledge. I began knocking on the window, a bit harder than normal. What can I say? This is urgent! I felt the rain drenching me, soaking my hair and clothes.

Helia pulled back the curtains, clutching a metal bat in his hands. His hair was a little messy, and he was wearing a t-shirt and pajama pants.

Helia took a breath when he saw it was me, but then had a concerned look replace it.

Helia quickly opened the window letting me in.

"Flora, what are you…"

"Helia! You've got to help me! My Dad…and Suzan has this…and they lied….and, and, and" I stuttered, feeling flustered

Helia placed his hands on my shoulders, giving me shivers….good shivers.

"Flora, calm down. Now what in the world is going on? You scared the living hell out of me" Helia said

"Just look" I said taking out my phone and holding it up, showing him the picture I snapped of the document on my Father's desk.

"What's this?" Helia asked

Helia sat on his bed, and I sat on his desk chair.

I explained the whole story to him, from start to finish.

"So, what you're saying is, we have to go out, in the rain and get this document from Suzan's car and you have absolutely no idea what it is?" Helia asked

"Yeah" I said in a soft voice

I knew this was crazy. Helia probably thinks I'm some kind of a…..

"Alright, but first take one of my sweatshirts because you look freezing" Helia said pulling a sweatshirt out of his closet

I smiled, placing my phone on his counter, and pulling it over my head. It was baggy on me, and it went down to my knees, due to our height difference.

"First we have to go into my Dad's house and get the keys to Suzan's car" I told him

"So…what are we going to break into your Dad's house too?" Helia asked

I pulled a key out of my pocket

"I have a key" I told him

"Alright, let's go" Helia said

We jumped out the window, going to my Dad's house. Quietly, we snuck in. I went to Suzan's purse and pulled out her keys

"Bingo" I whispered, holding it up for Helia to see. We lightly high fived, walking back outside. Helia took the keys and unlocked it.

"Here, put this in your pocket, let's go check it out" Helia said

We went to the front seat and opened the door, getting inside, and shutting the door behind us.

"Where is it?" I asked looking around

"Is that it? In the back seat?" Helia asked pointing to the trunk

"Yes! Good one Helia!" I screamed high fiving him

We scurried to the back seat, tripping over our own feet. We laughed as Helia ell over the seat.

I grabbed the purse, searching through it. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a sheet of paper.

"I found it!" I screamed lifting it up into the air like a trophy

"Let's see it" Helia said, sitting next to me

We sat pretzel legged in the trunk, looking over the document.

I read the title.

"Adoption papers?" I asked, dumbfounded

Helia flipped the page over.

"Your Dad's and Suzan's names are signed at the bottom. You don't think…" Helia started, but I cut him off

"They're adopting a child?" I asked, my eyes growing wide

"Come on Flora, we don't know that for sure. Maybe, maybe they're adopting a child for someone else?" Helia asked, although we both knew it couldn't be right

"Thank you for your optimism Helia" I said, looking down sadly

Helia put his hand on my shoulder…and then his hand slowly slid down and grasped my hand. I looked up at his face, feeling a blush come to my cheeks. Kiss me. Kiss me. Please, please, kiss me.

"Why don't you take a picture of it, then we'll get out of here" Helia asked, a half smile on his face

I was so mesmerized by his eyes, I felt myself nodding my head. I felt around my pocket for my phone…but it wasn't there.

"I left it on your counter!" I said

"Then we'll just use mine" Helia said digging into his pocket.

"Crap, 1 bar. Better take this picture fast before it dies" Helia said

I held it up, and he snapped the picture.

"Good, now let's put this down and get the heck out of here" I said putting it back in the purse, in exactly the way I found it.

"I second that. Don't you feel kind of weird breaking into some stranger's car like this" Helia said

"Yes. I feel strange about this whole thing! I feel like I've just lied to my Dad into the next century, and I don't like to lie. Because 1 lie turns into another, then another, then another, and next thing you know everything is just a whole big mess" I said

We crawled up to the front seat, and I placed my hand on the door handle, pushing it…but it didn't open.

"Helia…where are the keys?" I asked

"I gave them to you" He said, concern in his voice

I looked out the window and sure enough there they were lying on the street.

"They must have fallen out of my pocket!" I screamed warily

"We're locked in?" Helia asked

We both looked at each other, our eyes growing wide. All we could hear was the sound of thunder, and the sound of our hearts beating wildly inside our chests.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey! Thank you for the reviews! Seriously, this is my most popular story I've ever written! Thanks for all the support. I'm sorry for the wait! My internet went down for a bit, so it was kind of out of my hands. Anyhow, hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 19:**

"Helia! Try to unlock it from inside" I said jiggling the door handle

"I'm trying! The button is on safe mode" Helia said

"Then take it off of safe mode!" I said

"You need the keys to do that" Helia said

I groaned, falling back against the seat

"I. Am. So. Done. For" I said

"It's not that bad" Helia said

"Helia, we are trapped inside my Father's possible girlfriend's car. This is like way passed bad" I said

"Somebody will eventually come for us" Helia said

"Yes, but when they do don't you think they might want to know why there are 2 teenage kids in the car? This is breaking and entering! This is illegal" I said

"Okay…maybe it is, but we found out what your Dad was being so secretive about" Helia said holding up the document

"Yeah I know, he's adopting a child" I mumbled, looking down

"It's not that bad Flora, wouldn't it be nice to have another sister or brother?" Helia asked

"But I don't understand why he had to keep it from me. What did he think? 1 day a girl would show up at our doorstep, or yeah by the way I forgot to mention this to you Flora, I adopted a child, say hello to your new sister" I said

"Or brother" Helia said

"Not the point" I said

"Flora, if we just calm down and wait it out I'm sure it'll be alright" Helia said

I sighed

"I guess you're right, especially since it's our only choice" I said

We laughed.

"May as well get comfortable" Helia said getting back in the trunk of the car

Helia took my hand and helped me in. We sat down next to each other, our backs against the seat so we were facing the back window.

Suddenly, a boom of thunder roared through the dark nigh sky. It caught me off guard, making me jump.

"This rain is getting crazy" I said

"At least we're safe in the car and didn't like…lock ourselves out of the house or something" Helia said

"Now that would be bad" I said, smiling

Helia always knew how to cheer me up.

"So, do I tell him?" I asked

"Tell who what?" Helia asked

"My dad, you know, that I know about the secret" I said

"He'll tell you eventually, so why waist time waiting? I say you tell him" Helia said

"If I tell him, then wont all of this…this..hiding a big waist?" I asked  
>"Not really" Helia said, leaning on his side and laying down<p>

I copied his position, except I laid the other way around, so his feet were by my head.

"How is this not a waist of time?" I asked

"Cause I get to be alone with you" Helia said with a yawn

My face flushed bright red, but I don't think he could see it, considering he was faced the other way.

I smiled, taking a peak over at his face. He was smirking!

I took my foot and lightly wacked his head.

"What was that for?" He asked laughing

"You know what that was for" I said back, laughing as well

We weren't sure, considering we didn't have a watch or phones, but we estimated it to be about 2:30 when we first began to drift off.

The pitter patter of the rain kind of drifted me to sleep. Well…the pitter patter of the rain…and the thought of Helia being next to me.

"I can't believe I got you into this" I whispered

"Shhhh, go to bed" Helia whispered jokingly

I smiled again, turning over and shutting my eyes.

…

"Flora"

I felt someone patting on my shoulder

"Flora!"

Now they were shaking

"Flora, you have to wake up!"

I was in a pretty deep sleep, considering we'd fallen asleep at 3am.

"Paul, why don't you check the garden. I just can't seem to find my keys"

That's when my eyes shot open. I heard a womanly voice speaking, and know exactly who it came from.

"Helia!" I screamed, in a whispered tone

"I have been trying to get you up for an hour. They've been searching for the keys for an hour now" Helia said

"Sorry, I guess I didn't hear you" I said

"Well crouch down, cause they're coming this way" Helia said

The 2 of us flattened down to the floor, so they wouldn't see us.

"Where do they think I am, if I'm not in my bed?" I asked

"They think you've already left for school" Helia said

"School? What time is it?" I asked frantically

"I'm not sure, but I think it's 9" Helia said

"9! We're going to be late for school!" I said

"Not the biggest of our issues at the moment" Helia said

The voices began to get nearer to the car.

"Maybe they fell out of your purse on the way out" I heard my Dad say

"Helia I…" I began to say, but was cut off by Helia wrapping his arm around my head and covering my mouth.

"Stay quiet, cars aren't sound proof" Helia whispered into my ear. The way he said it…it kind of made it sound sexy…

Did I just think that! No I did not…erasing that from my memory…

I nodded, as he slowly pulled his arm back. We went completely silent, and I could hear my heart pounding.

"Maybe you're right. Why don't I just retrace my steps since I exited the car" Suzan said

"Good idea" My Dad said

They were now literally right next to the car. If Helia wasn't there with me, I would probably die.

"Oh my god Paul! I found them!" Suzan screamed happily, lifting the keys I'd dropped on the street up in the air.

"That's great!" My Dad screamed

I heard 2 beeps, then the front door opened wide.

My eyes flew open.

Suzan got into the front seat and put the keys into ignition.

"Then I guess this is goodbye for now Paul. I had a wonderful time" Suzan said

"You're welcome here anytime, we always except beautiful women"

I decided to take a small peak over the seats.

My mouth shot open. My Dad is flirting!

Suzan laughed, turning red.

"You always were quite the gentlemen" Suzan said

"I try" My Dad said

"I'll stop by a little later so we can just talk a bit about the whole ordeal" Suzan said

"When will she be arriving?" My Dad asked

She? So it's a girl. Wooopididoo, I'm getting a new sister.

"Tomorrow, around 5" Suzan said

"Flora and Rose will be home by then" My Dad said and he almost sounded….scared.

"Don't worry about it Paul. I told you, we'll talk about the details later" Suzan said

My Dad nodded

"Alright, I'll see you later then" My Dad said, then I heard a slamming of a door.

"Helia.." I mouthed

"We're in big trouble" Helia mouthed back

I am officially freaking out right now. Suzan has pulled out of the drive ay and we are on our way to who knows where! Helia and I have no way out without her calling the cops on us.

Helia and I sat, b arely breathing in the front seat as Suzan hummed along to the tunes playing on the car radio. 15 minutes later, the car stopped.

When it stopped looked up at Helia, who looked at me.

"On the count of 3, I'm going to slowly open up the trunk. I want you to roll out as silent as possible" Helia whispered

"What about Suzan?" I asked in hushed tone

"That's the thing, right hen she gets out we have to move. You understand?" Helia asked

I nodded.

The radio stopped playing as she took the keys out of the ignition. Her car door opened as she stepped out.

"Now!" Helia screamed in a whispered tone.

I didn't realize it would be this fast…my slippers fell of!

He opened the trunk of the car a little bit.

I did just as he said, I rolled out of the car as fast as possible, scurrying into the bush before Suzan could notice.

Helia on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. Before he could roll out, Suzan locked the cra again, leaving him on the inside.

You have got to be kidding me!

Helia looked out the window, a look o annoyance on his face.

"Just go out" I mouthed at him, signaling him to run

"I cant! The car alarm will go off!" He mouthed

"We'll run! Suzan wont know it was us!" I mouthed

Helia thought about it for a second, then nodded.

Just as he said, the alarm went off.

"Helia!" I screamed out loud

Helia just kept running past me, snagging my arm in the process

"Just run Flora, run!" He screamed

I began to run along with him, my bare feet hitting the concrete sidewalk, the alarm going of behind us.

As we ran through the streets looking like fugitives, we couldn't help but laugh.

Once we were at least 2 miles away, we stopped. My breathing was heavy, and a bead of sweat played at my forehead.

"Should we go home first?" Helia asked

"No, let's just get to school" I said

"Good idea, we're already like 2 hours late" Helia said

I groaned, taking in another breath and wiping the sweat of my face.

"Alrighty then, let's do this thing" I said

"Race you there" Helia said

I smiled

"You're on"

I put my hand out for a shake and just as I thought Helia was about to shake my hand he lightly pushed me to the side and began to run.

"Helia! You're such a cheater!" I screamed as I began to run after him

He just laughed.

We neared the entrance of the school and I was making it in front of him.

Helia began to take the stairs…stupid move Helia.

I got on the railing and hit the front door, a second before he did.

"Haha! Yes! Victory!" I screamed happily

Helia bent down, breathing heavily.

"Lucky shot" Helia said

"This just comes to show, cheaters never prosper" I said in a singy tone

Helia just shook his head with a laugh

We walked into the school, still laughing.

"What class do you have next?" I asked

"Spanish with, el professio faragondio" Helia said in a fake Spanish accent

"You know adding io to the end of a word, doesn't make it Spanish right?" I asked with a laugh

"I'm not to good in Spanish" Helia said

"I can tell" I said

Helia checked the clock on the wall

"Scratch that, missed Spanish, next I have English" Helia said

"Me too" I said with a smile

"That's good, we can walk in looking like crap together" Helia said with faked enthusiasm

I laughed looking down at myself

I was wearing shorts, a white t-shirt, and a sweatshirt over that. I was bear foot and my hair had a bad case of bed head.

"Wow, aren't I attractive Helia" I said sarcastically

Helia laughed  
>"Let's hurry up before we're even later" I said<p>

"Well, there's a way we could get there faster" Helia said

"There is…HELIA!"

Helia ran behind me, picking me up in his arms and throwing me over his shoulder.

He began to run as we started cracking up

He let me down, laughing so hard he was on the floor

"Come on, we better get to class now Romeo" I said pulling him by the arm

The 2 of us walked into English class together. When we walked in the class fell silent, staring us up and down.

My cheeks flared up.

"You're late, please take your seat" Ms. Grizelda said

I nodded, quickly scurrying to my seat beside Stella and Bloom who looked like they were holding back laughter.

"What?" I asked

"Dude, you just came with your hair all messy in your pajamas, with Helia. What do you think the whole class is thinking?" Stella whispered, her voice all shaky, trying to avoid bursting out in laughter

"What?" I asked, confused

That's when they started laughing

"Girls" Ms. Grizelda said

"Sorry" They said

Bloom turned to me

"Flora they think you guys…you know" Bloom said

"What?" I asked, still clueless

"They think you guys like.." Bloom started again but was cut off by Stella

"Just forget it Bloom, she's too innocent" Stella said

Suddenly, it all began to click in my mind.

"Hold on a second, they think we…no. I can assure you we didn't do anything of such sort" I started to say

"Girls" Ms. Grizelda said

"Sorry" We all recited together

After class Stella brought me to her extra stash of clothes in locker 143.

"Thanks Stell" I said

"So what happened?" She asked as we walked in the hallway

"It's a long story. Helia and I got locked in Suzan's car.."

"Who's Suzan, and why were you in her car?" Stella asked

"My fathers girlfri…my fathers frien..actually, I'm not exactly sure where she stands" I said  
>"So why were you in her car again?" Stella asked<br>"Who's car?" Musa said joining us with Tecna

"Suzan's" I said

"Who's Suzan?" Layla asked walking over to us with Bloom

"Okay, now that you're ALL here, I shall tell my story. Last night, Helia and I happened to get locked in my father's…aquaintenc's car. We had to sleep in it, and then we had to break out of it. That is why I walked into class looking as I did, NOT because of what all you dirty minded people were thinking" I said, pointing to Bloom and Stella, who started laughing

"Well, why did you break into her car in the first place?" Layla asked

"It's quite simple actually Layla, because she and my Father's are adopting a child together!" I said with faked enthusiasm

"They're what?" Bloom asked as everyone's eyes grew open.

"Oh it's a charming tail of how my father's been lying to me" I said

I told them the story, from beginning to end.

"Woah, that's..complicated" Layla said

"Yeah, I need some answers. What is going on?" I asked

"Well, sounds to me your father and this Suzan girl are getting a kid" Stella said

We all turned to Stella, then burst out laughing.

"Oh Stella…it's a good thing your pretty" Layla said giving her a pat on the shoulder

"Thanks" Stella said with a smile, flipping her hair back.

We walked in front of her.

"Hey! Wait a second!" Stella said as Layla's joke clicked in her mind.

We all laughed as she caught up with us.

"Well, what do I do?" I asked

"Why don't you just tell your Dad?" Musa suggested

"I couldn't. I'm too scared that he'll get angry" I said

"It's okay if he gets angry. My Dad gets angry at me lots of times, it's just his way of saying, I love you, and I don't want anything to hurt you" Tecna said

"Yeah but Tec, you have to understand. When I was younger, my Mom got mad, he got mad…so he left. I can't have that happen again. Not to Rose" I said

We sat at a lunch table.

Bloom put her arm around me.

"And now, with another kid in the picture. What's going to happen? Children cost money. Maybe he'll decide he doesn't want us anymore and go off with his new family" I said

"Flora, don't say that. How do you even know for sure that they're even adopting this kid?" Bloom asked

"Bloom, it's written clearly, isn't it. The lies, the secrets, THE ADOPTION PAPERS" I said

"Well, let's see'em How do we even know they're legit?" Layla asked

I handed my phone over to Layla.

Layla opened up the picture.

"So…a sister…that sounds nice" She said.

I couldn't help but smile.

"Oh, I'm being so rude. I'm burdening you girls with my dumb problems.."

"Are you kidding? Dude, this is like one of those dramas on TV that you get addicted to for no apparent reason" Stella said

We all laughed

"I say we all come over next time Suzan comes over. Nobody can get imformation out of somebody like Stella can" Musa said

"It's true! I hassle people!" Stella said with a big smile on her face

"I don't know.." I said

"Oh come on, let us come Flo" Layla said

"Oh…alright" I said

"When is she coming over?" Tecna asked

"Tonight. You guys should come for dinner, I'm sure my Dad will be playing Romeo tonight so he'll invite her to dinner" I said

They laughed, high fiving each other.

Later after school, the girls and I went and picked up Rose from school.

"Hey Rose" Bloom said russling her hair

"Hi girls! Are you coming for dinner?" Rose asked

"You bet kid! And you know who else is coming?" Stella said

"Who?" Rose asked, taking my hand as we began to walk

"Our good friend Suzan" Layla said

"Oh goody! I love Suzan! Do you think her and Daddy will ever get married?" Rose asked, looking up at me

"Uhhh…I don't know about that one" I said

"Well, only until Mom comes back" Rose said

I bit my lip as the girls looked up at me alarmed.

"Right…well, how about we get going" I asked

She nodded, skipping along merrily.

She's so lucky. She has nothing to worry about, nothing to care about. I'm always thinking about what comes of things. I'm always thinking about

When we got to the house, just as I'd expected Suzan's car was right in the front. I've come to hate that vehicle. A whole night in it and you'd think I'd love it…nope.

"Dad! I'm home!" I screamed as we entered the house.

"Oh hi Flora, I see you've brought over some friends" My Dad said coming out of the kitchen

"Uhh yeah" I said trying to look around for Suzan.

"Unless…is there a problem with us being here. Like a…problem, a family issue….a women of some sort" Stella asked

"No, it's alright. However, Suzan is here" My Dad said

Suzan then walked out of the kitchen smiling.

"Hi girls" She said

"Oh Hi Suzan, Flora's told us about you" Layla said

"What does she say?" Suzan asked with a laugh

"Only good things" Layla said

"I take it you girls are staying for dinner. I'm actually making some dinner. I guess I'll have to make a few more servings" Suzan said with a laugh

"Yes of course..now I see you're getting close to Mr. Linphea" Stella said

Suzan nodded, heading over to the stove  
>"That's interesting. Are you guys getting close enough to say…have a kid together?" Stella asked<p>

My eyes shot open.

When Stella said this, Suzan accidently dropped the pot she was holding.

"No, why would you ask such a question?" Suzan asked

"Just a question. I can see some chemistry working up between you two. Almost…parent like" Stella said, a glint in her eye

"We're so sorry. Our friend could be a bit…over exaggerated at times" Musa said pulling Stella out of the room for a second, and into the hallway.

"Sorry" I said again

Suzan just laughed it off

"No problem" She said cleaning up her mess

Stella and Musa walked back into the room, Stella looking down.

"Sorry, I guess I've watched 1 too many episodes of gossip girl" Stella joked, but nobody laughed

"Right well…awkward" She said walking out again

After we ate dinner, Rose wanted to play Monopoly with the girls and I.

"No! I got sent to jail again!" Musa cried, hitting her head on the couch pillow. We all laughed together.

"I'm gonna go get some more drinks for everyone" I said getting up

"I'll take a coke!" Bloom said

"Make that 2" Tecna said

"I'll take a sprite" Musa said

"I'll take some root beer" Layla said

"Can I have some pink lemonade" Rose asked

"Got it, so 2 cokes, a mountain dew, a sprite, root beer, and a pink lemonade. What about you Stell? Can I get you anything?" I asked

"I'll take lemonade topped with a slice of lime, and 2 umbrellas. 1 yellow…and 1 orange" Stella said

"So a coke it is" I said

We all laughed

I went downstairs, then toward the kitchen. I thought I was alone…until I heard voices from the kitchen.

"What do you want me to say Suzan? Obviously this cant work" I heard my Dad say

"But why? I don't understand why we cant just all be 1 happy family" I heard Suzan say

"It's not that simple. What about Flora? What about Rose?" My Dad said

"What about me? What about our child?" Suzan said

My father remained silent

"Huh? You tell me. Did we seriously waist 6 years of our lives on nothing?" Suzan asked

"No. It's not like that Suzan. Right now, Flora and Rose are my priorities. We're not children anymore Suzan. I'm not a solo act. The 2 of them come with the picture, get it?" My Dad said

"Of course I get it Paul. I just don't understand why we cant just tell them and then go with plan A" Suzan said

My Father was silent again.

"So that's it then?" Suzan asked

"I'm afraid so" My Dad said

"Fine. I guess we'll go with plan B then" Suzan said.

My Father nodded.

"That's how it's going to be" My Dad said

That's when I had enough.

"Plan A, plan B. Does it really matter? It's all lies anyway" I said, walking in

"Flora..I…how long have you been standing there?" My Dad said as he froze into place

"Long enough to know that you've been lying to me" I said

"Flora, I haven't been.."

"I know about the adoption papers! I've seen them with my own eyes! Look" I said taking out my phone and showing them the picture.

My Father's eyes grew wide, and Suzan just stood frozen.

"Flora...I don't know what you want me to say" My Dad said

"What do I want? What do I want? I'll tell you what I want! I want answers Dad, ANSWERS!" I screamed

He scratched his head

"Flora, it's very complicated.."

"Complicated? You don't think I know what complicated is? I just spent 12 hours stuck in a car, and you're telling me I don't know what complicated is? My Father left when I was 6, and you're telling me I don't know what complicated is?" I asked, my fists clenching up

"Flora,"

"Please Dad. I have to know" I said

By then, the Winx had all ran down stairs to see what was going on, Rose trodding down beside them.

"Girls, could you just give us a minute?" My Dad asked them

They nodded

"Yeah, of course. Come on Rose, why don't we go over to Jamie's house for a little bit" Bloom said

"Okay!" Rose said in her upbeat spunky voice.

Bloom lifted her up into her arms and they all walked toward the front door.

"I guess we better tell Helia that we know he lives next door sooner or later" Stella said on their way out

I looked at my Dad to Suzan, then back at my Dad.

"Flora, why don't you sit down" Suzan said

I nodded, sitting by the kitchen table. Suzan and my Father sat before me, looks of guilt on their faces.  
>"Flora, do you remember..why your mom had gotten angry at me?" My Dad asked<p>

I nodded

"Well, I try not to..but yeah" I said

"Well, the women that she..saw me with…was Suzan" My Dad said

I looked at Suzan, my fists clenching up again.

No Flora, the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure she had a reason to do it.

"For the record, I had no idea he was married" Suzan said

"And I was drunk" My Dad said

"That so doesn't make the situation better" Suzan said

"Right…well, anyway. Suzan had gotten pregnant…with my baby" My Dad said

I nodded

"AT the time, I was young. I was 19 years old. I wasn't ready to raise a child on my own" Suzan said

"So you..you killed it?" I asked, my eyes wide  
>"God no! I gave her to an orphanage" Suzan said<p>

I sighed in relief. I hate the thought of people killing an innocent little child.

"Anyways, 2 years later, I reunited with your Father in New York City. We worked together for a few years. We knew each other…obviously. We started talking, and then I said, well what would it have been like if I'd kept the baby, and we'd have raised her together?" Suzan said

I nodded

"At the time, your mother had completely shut me out. She wouldn't let me see you or your sister, because she was afraid I might take you away from her…which I wouldn't of course" My Father said

"Go on" I said with a nod

"So, since I couldn't see you girls, I missed having kids around very much. I wanted to have the presence of a child again….so I said, well, why don't we?" My Father said

"So, we hired a detective to find where our little girl was" Suzan explained

"And.." I said

"And, it took 12 years for them to find the state she was in, let alone what city" Suzan said

"They found out that she had been adopted, but the family that adopted her couldn't afford to have a child…so they left her in front of sombody's home. We've finally found out where she is. The detective has located her, and we've already received a picture. Suzan went today to see her, and she said she wanted to come home" My Father said, a smile on his face

"So…she's going to..live with us?" I asked

"Only if you want her to. See, what we did when they were getting near to finding her was we set up a list of different plans for different scenarios" Suzan said

"Plan A, was for you and Rose to move out of Grandma and Grandpa's place and into my house, and Suzan and your step sister move in. We'll all live together…like a family" My Dad said

"And plan B?" I asked

"Plan B was for..Your step sister and I to go our separate ways from your family" Suzan said

I sighed looking at my thumbs, feeling tears come to my eyes.

"So..what are you going to do?" I asked, my voice cracking

"It's up to you" Suzan said, taking my hand

I swallowed

"I just have 1 question. Are you and my father like….married or something?" I asked

"Well…not exactly. But we love each other. Isnt that enough?" Suzan asked

I looked up at her face and smiled.

"Yes…it is enough" I said, letting the tears flow.

"I think we should go with plan A" I said, with a small laugh

Suzan smiled, hugging me.

"Flora! I promise you, you will not regret this" My father said, hugging me as well

"But if we're going to do this for real you both have to promise me this" I said

"Anything" Suzan said, taking my hands

"You have to promise me, that no matter what happens, no matter what kind of fights you get into. You will not leave us" I said

"I wont be making the same mistake I made 14 years ago Flora, I promise you I wont" My Dad said

I smiled, hugging them happily.

That night I had explained it with small detail to Rose. She thinks that we're getting a new sister…that's about it. I called the girls and they thought we should be on TV! The only person left to tell is…

"Helia!" I cried, running happily to my window

Helia looked up from his desk

"Hey Flora you look hap…"

"Put something up so I can come over. I've got big news!" I said

Helia left his room for a few seconds, then came back with a thick piece of wood. He put it through connecting our windows…like a bridge.

"That should be sturdy enough" Helia said

I smiled, getting on and walking across, landing in Helia's room.

"Man, we should have thought of that like 8 months ago" I said with a laugh

Helia laughed

"What's the big news?" Helia asked

I told him the story.

"You're kidding. How old is she?" Helia asked

"She's a few months older than me" I said

Helia smiled

"Cool, another family member. I can tell you right now, my parents are probably going to invite her for Thanksgiving" Helia said

I laughed

"Let me tell you something Flora, you have THE MOST interesting life I've ever seen" Helia said

I climbed back on the plank

"You call it interesting," I said walking across, and landing in my room

"I call it surprising" I said with a laugh

"Extremely" Helia said

I went to my closet and then into my bathroom. I changed into some pajamas, then got on my bed.

"Helia" I called

"Yeah?" He called back

"Do you ever feel like someone's watching over you…like specifically guarding you?" I asked

"Sure. Like if something amazing happens?" Helia asked

"Exactly" I said

:"Why do you ask?" Helia asked

"I feel like that right now" I said

I know who it is watching over me. She's always been there, and she always will be. She's my mother.

…

The next day at school, I could barely hold in my excitement to get home. I knew that when I got home, my step sister would be waiting for me.

"Riven" I whispered

"What?" He whispered back

"How much longer till this class ends?" I asked

"Well, since last time you asked it was 24 minutes, it is now, 23 minutes and 12 seconds" He said

"She's just excited" Musa said giving Riven a little push

"Hey, I wasn't hating" Riven said, putting his arms up in defense

Musa and I laughed.

"Come here" Musa said lifting his chin up and putting a kiss on his cheek.

"Hey you 2. We're doing science not having public displays of effection" Our science teacher said, making them brake.

We all started laughing along with the rest of the class.

After class I had gym, which was my favorite class, because everyone's in it! All of us together! It's great! Well…except for the fact that Katy and Taylor were with us…but I'm willing to look passed that.

We played a game of baseball, then I got through the rest of my classes.

Right when the final bell rang I was up and out of that class like lightning.

"Flora, are you going to see her now?" Tecna asked

"Yeah, I'm so excited. Suzan is picking up Rose and my Father is going to pick up my step sister" I said

"Then you better get going" Bloom said with a laugh

"Right you are Bloom. I just have to find Helia, he's giving me a ride" I said

I turned to run off, but just as I began to run I ran right into someone that was running too.

"Would you watch where your going!" I heard that evil voice

"I'm sorry Katy, I didn't mean too" I said picking up her books

"What she means is, get lost" Layla said helping me up

"Whatever. I so don't have time for you losers today. I've got somewhere I gotta be" Katy said rolling her eyes and walking away  
>"Awww! She's pretending she has a social life! Bless her honey suckle heart" Musa said sarcastically<p>

We all started laughing.

"That's so mean Musa! Why don't we all just try to be nice?" I asked

"Flora, mark my word when I say this. After highschool I never want to see that bratty little rich girl's smirk ever again" Musa said

"Okay, okay…oh there's Helia!" I said

Helia drove me home, and I kind of just ran out of the car, yelling a quick goodbye on my way out.  
>"I'll see you later!" I screamed<p>

"good luck!" He screamed

I went into my house. This is it. The moment I will meet my new sister. The person that'll be living with me until…forever. I took a breath, my heart pumping.

"Oh Flora, your home!" Suzan said, letting me in. She gave me a quick hug then led me to the living room.

"Flora, I want you to meet your step sister" She said

When my eyes set on her…my mouth shot open…and her's did too. I know that face. I know those eyes, those eyes that glare at me. Those eyes that hate me. Those eyes that…Suzan has as well. How could I have not seen this coming?

"Flora?"

"Katy!"

**Hope you like it! I'll post for a letter's worth a thousand words by tomorrow. Only 1 more chapter until the finale chapter! We're getting nearer and nearer to the end! Thanks you guys 3**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey you guys! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! **

**Oh and PrincessAlathaea- you are completely correct. I did not even realize I had made that mistake! Why you ask? Because I am a moronic idiot. **

**Lol, no I'm not. Anyways….**

**Chapter 20:**

"Flora!"

"Katy!"

I couldn't believe this! Were my eyes deceiving me? Could this actually be happening!

"You girls know each other?" Suzan asked

"What is SHE doing here? ME! What are YOU doing here?" We screamed together

My father and Suzan looked at each other then laughed

"You girls are almost like twins" My Dad laughed

"So not the time for joking Paul! Is…is Flora my…my.." Katy stuttered pointing to me, the words unable to escape her lips

"Katy, Flora is your step sister. And so is Rose. Why don't you all introduce yourselves" Suzan said

Katy and I sat down on the couch next to Rose. I was just downright shocked. I couldn't talk, I couldn't even look up.

Katy was in pretty much the same state, except for the fact that her fists were clenched in anger, and her eyes were glaring into the floor boards.

"I'll go first!" Rose jumped up cheerily

Suzan smiled and nodded at her, encouragingly

"My name is Rose…well actually is Rosalinda, but who wants to be called Rosalinda? Right? So everyone calls me Rose, except for Daddy when he's really angry" Rose explained, talking really fast. A smile played at my lips after hearing this. I love how she's always so jumpy and enthusiastic about everything. And when I say everything, I really do mean EVERYTHING.

"My best friend in the whole widest world is Jamie, she's also happens to be our next door neighbor. We do lots of stuff with that family, so now Katy and Suzan will do it with us too! We go snow tubing, and we go on road trips, and we get into lots of life threatening situations!" Rose said happily

"What?" My Dad asked

"Nothing" Rose sang

"Where was I again? Oh yeah, and I'm 7 years old. I go to Ms. Hudson's first grade class with Jamie every day! I'm pretty smart too you know? I can read some things, and I can spell cat, dog, run, tag…"

"Rose. We get it, you can spell stuff" Jamie mumbled

Rose giggled

"Woopsie" Rose said sitting down

There was a long silent pause  
>"Who wants to go next?" Suzan asked<p>

Nobody spoke

"..Okay then…I'll go. My name is Suzan Lockingdale..well, since Paul and I are getting married Suzan Linphea now I suppose. I am 34 years old and proud of it if I may add" She said making my Dad laugh

"I graduated from NYU majoring in business, and Katy was my first child" Suzan said

There was a long silent pause again.

Suzan sighed.

"Rose sweety, why don't you go have a snack in the kitchen? Paul.."

"Right. Come on Rosey, let's go fix up some crackers" My Dad said, Rose following after him.

And then there were 3….

Katy and I sat side by side, Suzan before us.

"Alright girls, we need to talk. Obviously there's some kind of tension going on between you two" She said, crossing her arms

"Now, you have to understand. You girls are sisters now, and you're just going to have to accept it. I know this is going to be weird, moving in with a bunch of strangers and basically…well basically it's as if you have a whole new family you've never even seen before" Suzan said

Katy and I remained silent.

Suzan took each of our hands, making us look up.

"Things will get better over time, you'll see" Suzan said

"Paul and I decided that you 2 will share Flora's room. It's only logical, I mean Rose is only 7 and since you girls are 17 I figure…"

That's when Katy snapped.

She jumped up, pulling her hand out of Suzan's so fast it made me jump.

"Katy!" Suzan screamed startled

"No! I refuse to live here if THAT is going to be living here too!" Katy screamed pointing at me

"Katy, you don't mean that you're just…" Suzan tried again

"Surprised? Disgusted? What are the kids at school going to say?" Katy asked

"Katy, come on, this isnt going to help anyth…" I tried

"Oh shut it smiles, you are NOT my sister, you are NOT my family, and you can take your dumb house back!" Katy screamed at me

With that she turned and started pounding up the stairs, going who knows where. After a few seconds I heard a slam.

Suzan put her face in her hands, as if it were her fault or something.

I felt terrible. I hadn't done anything to help, I just sat there. I am a terrible person.

My dad and Rose came running out of the kitchen, after hearing all the commotion.

"Flora, what happened?" My Dad asked

"I..I.." There was only 1 thing I felt like doing at that moment.

I grabbed Rose's hand and I ran to the door.

"Flora! Where are you going?" My Dad screamed running after me

I could already feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I didn't even care that it was raining outside, I just had to get out.

"I'm taking Rose to Jamie, then I'm going to Bloom's house!" I said, not stopping

"Flora! Shouldn't we put on jackets or something?" Rose asked, barely able to keep up with me

I scooped her up in my arms and used my body to shield her from the rain.

I went straight to the Knightly's home, knocking on the door.

Mrs. Knightly came to the door and looked at us with a weird expression.

"Girls? What are you doing? You're going to catch a cold" Mrs. Knightly said pulling us into the house

"No, no, I have to get going. I was just wondering if Rose could stay over? Just for a few hours, I promise" I said

Mrs. Knightly laughed

"Of course. Believe me, Jamie will be thrilled to have Rose here. She's upset because she has nothing to do. The rain hasn't stopped for 2 days now" Mrs. Knightly said

"Thank you" I said, then I turned on my heels

"Are you going somewhere? Do you want me to call Helia down? He can drive you" Mrs. Knightly said

"No, no. Stella is coming to pick me up" I lied

I hate lying to her, but I have to be alone right now.

I turned and left, returning into the rain. As I went passed my house, all I could hear was Paul and Suzan screaming at each other about Katy. I shut my eyes, feeling the tears beginning to fall. I covered my ears with my hands. No, no, no! It's happening all over again! It's all starting to come back to me now. My real mother, my Dad, their constant fighting. It's going to happen again. The passed is just going to keep repeating itself over and over again! It's like the world doesn't want me ever to be happy. It's like the world doesn't want me have a family to love. It's like, it's like…

I began to run, covering my ears as I did. I ran toward the park, toward the bench, toward the spot that..the spot that I had first found out that I had fallen for Helia again. The spot that Helia and I had been fighting.

I sat down. Not a single person was in the park. All I could hear was the clinking of chains from the swings that were blowing back and forth due to the strong winds. I put my head in my lap, sobbing.

It's funny, sitting here on this bench. Now that I think about it, Helia and I have come a far way. When we sat here fighting, we had seriously hated each other. Now…now Helia's…Helia's my best friend. Not only my best friend, but he's the one I love.

Love. It's such a strange thing. But true love, that's something different. I've only felt true love for 3 people.

My mom, Helia…and my Rose. Rose doesn't even understand what's going on. I'd give ANYTHING to protect her. Rose is the closest thing I have to true family. My mother was too.

"oh mom, I wish you could be here with me" I whispered to myself

I sniffled, looking up straight and staring into space, like a statue. The rain drenched my hair and clothing. So there I was. The same little Flora Linphea. Pathetic.

Flashback:

"**Mommy?" 7 year old Flora asked, as she and her mother sat at the dining room table eating**

"**Yes Flora?" My mom had asked, though she sounded tired. She was now pregnant with Rose, and was going through some pain. **

"**Where's Daddy?" I had asked, tilting my head questionably **

"**I'm not sure" My mom said**

"**When is he coming home?" I asked **

"**I'm not sure" My mom said **

"**Why aren't you sure?" I asked sadly **

**All I had wanted was to see my Father. I hadn't seen him the whole day. He'd left to early in the morning for work, and it was now 8 o'clock. **

**Suddenly, the door slammed open.**

**My Father stormed through, a brief case in hand. He quickly ran to the kitchen, placing a kiss on my mom's cheek. **

"**You're late" My mom seethed **

"**I'm so sorry, I was running late. There was a…meeting" My Dad had said **

"**Seems there's been a lot of meetings lately, no?" My mother asked. **

**I was only 7 at the time, so I hadn't seen the suspicious glint in her eyes. **

"**Daddy!" I said wrapping my arms around him and placing a kiss on his cheek **

**My Dad smiled **

"**Good to see you to" He said **

**I went back to my seat. **

**My mom sat silently, angrily cutting her stake. **

"**What is it Naomi? Are you still angry?" My Dad asked **

"**I don't know? Why don't you ask the clock" My mom said  
>"Naomi, I'm not that late" <strong>

"**Mmhm, well if 2 hours isn't late for you, please tell me what is" My mom said **

**She got that look in her eye, the one she used when she was really pissed. **

"**No, please. Educate me Paul. What does the great almighty Mr. Linphea think late is?" My mom asked **

**My Dad slammed his fist on the table, making me jump. **

"**Enough Naomi! I have heard enough! I'm late, get over it" My Dad said **

"**You've been late for a month now! I AM THE ONE THAT HAS HAD ENOUGH!" My mother screamed, showing no fear **

**The room went silent again, and I was so scared I didn't know what to do.**

**My Dad sat down and began to chew on his stake. **

"**It's a little tender" He mumbled **

**My mother jumped up from her seat and took his plate from him.**

"**YOU DON'T LIKE IT? FINE! MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN DINNER!" My mother screamed dumping it in the garbage **

"**Naomi!" My Dad screamed **

"**I have had just about enough of your crap Paul!" My mother screamed **

"**What would you like me to say?" My dad asked, standing up **

**I gulped, my eyes bulging in fear.**

**My Dad looked at me. **

"**Go up to your room Flora" My Dad said**

"**Am I in trouble?" I asked in my high pitched voice **

"**No, sweety. Just go up" My mother said, with a bit more compassion **

**I nodded, going to the stairs. Only, instead of going up, I sat at the foot of the stairs. Out of sight. **

"**WHAT ABOUT FLORA? AND THE BABY? HUH? YOU CARE ABOUT THEM? OR IS IT JUST THIS DAMN "JOB"?" My mom asked **

"**Why the quotes around job?" My dad asked **

"**Please, I'm not stupid you know. You don't think I know what going on?" My mom asked **

**That's when my Dad got really angry **

"**I REFUSE TO BE TREATED THIS WAY IN MY HOME!" My dad screamed **

"**OH YEAH? WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?" My mom screamed **

**There was a long pause **

"**I'm out" **

**Those 2 words, those 2 simple words had ruined my life. **

**I heard footsteps coming toward me, so I quickly scurried up the stairs and ran into my room, leaving the door open a crack. **

"**Good! Get out! You think I care?" My mom screamed as my Dad began to pack his stuff **

**I had no idea what was going on **

**I heard screaming and things were being thrown. Next thing I knew, my Dad was walking to the front door with a suit case. **

"**Well good riddance to you! Oh! And take your damn ring too!" My mom screamed taking her wedding ring off and chucking it at my Dad as he made his way to his car **

**I ran down stairs to look.**

**My mom slammed the door shut, turning around. When she saw me, my eyes wet with tears, she hugged me.**

"**Mommy. Where's Daddy going?" I asked **

"**It doesn't matter. Forget about him, okay. From now on, it's just you me and baby Rose" She said rubbing her stomach **

"**But Daddy.." I cried **

**My mom began to cry **

"**Don't worry Flora, everything will be okay" She cried **

"**I promise you, everything will be okay" She cried **

End of flashback.

I sat there for a few seconds. Until seconds became minutes, and minutes became an hour and a half. That memory bored into my memory. I had been so young and naïve, I hadn't understood what was happening.

Suddenly, I heard a rustle in the bushes.

I lifted my head up, and what I saw made me think it was some kind of hallucination due to cold.

"Flora" He said

Before me stood Helia, dressed in a large coat and holding an umbrella.

Before I could do anything, Helia sat down and put his arms around me.

Then I just cried. Helia put his umbrella over us, so the rain wouldn't hit me anymore.

I shivered, snuggling into his warm coat.

Helia rubbed my back, telling me it would be okay.

"You have n..n..no idea what's been happening" I stuttered, partly from the cold, and partly from the fact that I had been crying

"Actually, I do. After you left your father called Stella's home to make sure you were all right, and they said they hadn't even seen you all night. He started freaking out, so he went over to my house. My mom said you'd said you were going to be at Bloom's house, but they called and you weren't there either"  
>"I didn't mean to cause any trouble, I'm sorry" I said<p>

Helia laughed

"Please, who doesn't love a good search party at 10 oclock at night, in the rain" Helia said with sarcastic enthusiasm

I started laughing

"They're seriously looking for me? I feel terrible"

"Yup, all 16 of us" Helia said

"16!"

"Yup, Rose and Jamie are out looking with my parents, Paul went out looking for you, the girls each went out with their boyfriends to search for you…and here we are" Helia said

"May I use your phone to call my Dad and tell him I've been fine" I asked

"Already did" Helia said

Suddenly, a bead of lightning lit the sky.

"Why don't we go to my car? You're probably freezing" Helia said

I nodded, wiping the last of my tears off my face and getting up.

We went to Helia's car. The road trip we'd taken seemed so distant to me now. After all this drama, I can barely remember my birthday.

Helia turned up the heat, then handed me a blanket from his trunk.

"There, now bundle up. If my mom thought I was freezing you, she'd whip me so bad" Helia said, making me laugh

There was a silence.

"So I guess we'll be seeing Katy a lot more, huh?" Helia asked

"Don't count on it. She doesn't want to stay with us. I think she might call child services to take her away" I said

Helia started the engine, but I put my hand on his for a moment.

"I don't want to go home just yet" I said

Suddenly, I blushed, realizing where my hand was. I quickly took my hand back gripping the blanket tightly.

"Your wish is my command" Helia said, taking the keys out of the egnition

I smiled

"You know, you do so much for me, yet I never do anything for you" I said

"Yes you do" Helia said

"No I don't" I said shaking my head

"Oh believe me Flora, you do. You and Rose have given Jamie and I more fun than we've ever experienced" Helia said

I looked out the window

"And more trouble" I mumbled

Helia started cracking up

I turned to look at him

"What are you laughing at?" I asked  
>Helia shook his head.<p>

"Flora Linphea, I swear to god, I will never understand you" Helia said

"What?" I asked, still confused

"Your insecure about yourself, yet you have everything a girl wants. You can get any guy you want, yet you've never had a boyfriend. You're one of the smartest girls I know, yet you never show off your smarts. You have some funny remarks, yet you barely say 2 words in class" Helia said

I blushed

"What does this have to do with anything" I asked tilting my head back in laughter

"You're so down on everything you do" Helia said

"I am not" I said

"You are so" Helia said

"You know what, take me home" I said with a laugh

Helia started the ignition again, only this time we began to drive. I looked out the window.

"You know Helia, you always know how to make a person feel happy, even when they're in the toughest situations"

"Well, I am known for being nice, and smart, and charming, and cute, and strong, and…"

I raised my eyebrows at him

"Can't argue with the truth" Helia said in a singy tone

I smiled.

"You know what, I think I'm going to try to talk Katy into staying" I said

"Really?" Helia asked

"Yeah. I think we just have to talk. I need to know what happened to us. And maybe…maybe someday we can be like…like a real family" I said

"Good luck on that. Come to the window tonight so we can talk" Helia said

I smiled, nodding.

Helia stopped in front of my house.

I took a breath. Better brace myself for what's to happen in the future.

I put my hand on the door handle.

"And Flora" Helia said taking my hand and turning me around

I looked into his eyes.

"Just so you know, there hasn't been a day since I met you, that I regretted you moving in next door" Helia said

I smiled, blushing.

"Thank you" I whispered

Then I turned and walked toward the door.

This is it. The moment of truth.

I knocked on the door.

"Flora!" Suzan said hugging me

I smiled

"I'm so sorry, I was at the park. I didn't mean to" I said

"Don't worry about it Flora. We're the ones that should be sorry. Your friends told us the whole story. I had no idea you and Katy were…" My Dad started but I cut him off

"Don't worry about it Dad. Just tell me, is Katy still upstairs?" I asked

"Yes. Nothing can get her down. She hasn't come down to even eat" My Dad said

"We've sent up the ultimate weapon. Rose." Suzan said

"If Rose cant get her to talk, we may have an issue" My Dad said

"Don't count on that. I warn you, you will hear screaming. But once I'm done with her, it'll be fine, I promise" I said

My Dad and Suzan got weird expressions on, but I just walked up the stairs. As I neared my room, I heard Rose's voice.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?"

"No" Katy muttered

I silently looked in. Katy was sitting at my desk, looking down. Rose sat on the desk top, talking, yet Katy barely even answered her.

"Why not? You're pretty" Rose said

"Thanks" Katy muttered

"I could totally set you up with one of my friends brothers" Rose said

I smiled

Katy moaned, turning around angrily.

"Look kid, I don't care how old you are, but would you quit trying to play match maker with me. Jesus, how does Flora put up with you?" Katy screamed

"I was just trying to…" Rose squeaked, scared of Katy

My face scrunched up

"I don't freakin care! Just shut your trap and get out of my face! Listen sweets, your little cutesy girl thing, it may work on other people but read my lips" Katy said lowering herself and matching her height with Rose's

"I don't give a shit" Katy said

Rose's eyes flew open.

"You said a bad word! Flora says if you say a bad word…" Rose said looking up

"God will hear you from heaven and get mad at you. You better not say anything else, or God is gonna be real furious" Rose said

Katy clenched her fists, and just as she was about to slap Rose, I ran in.

"Don't you dare touch her!" I screamed quickly shielding Rose with my body and grabbing hold of Katy's hand.

Katy's eyes grew wide.

I held Rose's hands as she hid behind my back, obviously frightened.

"Go downstairs Rose" I told her

She nodded with a gulp, scurrying to the door.

I shut the door behind her, locking it.

"I've had enough pep talks to last me a life time Flora. Get out" Katy said

"Alright Katy, obviously you don't have respect for your own parents, and I know for sure that you have no respect for me, so here's how it's going to go" I said walking over to the window and shutting it.

"Why'd you do that?" Katy asked

"I don't want Helia to eavesdrop" I said

"Helia?" Katy asked

"He lives next door" I said

Katy got up and looked through the window. She saw Helia sitting at his desk writing. She smiled and waved flirtatiously. He raised his eyebrows, but waved back.

"Score! Finally something good about this house" Katy said

"Katy! You have to focus" I told her, shutting the curtains

"What do you want from me?" She asked..well..screamed.

"As I was saying, here's how it's going to go. You cannot talk to my sister like that. Those words that you just used aren't going to fly around here. Rose is not some useless piece of trash. Rose is the most important thing in the world to me, and now that she's your sister too, you should at least care about her" I said

"Please, she is not my sister" Katy said

"I don't get it Katy. Why are you so mean? Why do you hate me so much?" I asked, holding out my arms hopelessly

"Why do I hate you? WHY DO I HATE YOU?" She screamed clenching her fists angrilly

"WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU EXCEPT THRIVE FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP?" I screamed, clenching my fists also

"You..you little. You have no idea how easy you get it? Do you? DO YOU?" Katy screamed

"EASY? YOU THINK MY LIFE IS EASY? PLEASE TELL ME WHAT PART OF MY LIFE IS EASY!" I screamed

"PLEASE FLORA! YOU HAVE EVERYTHING ANY GIRL EVER ASKED FOR!"

"DOES EVERY GIRL ASK FOR THEIR MOM TO BE DEAD, AND TO FIND OUT THAT THEIR DAD HAD AN AFFAIR!" I screamed as Katy turned, refusing to face me.

"YOU HAVE REAL FRIENDS!" Katy cried, sharply turning on her heels to face me. Her eyes were beginning to water.

My fists unclenched and my face eased.

"What?" I asked, tilting my head confused.

Katy was beginning to cry.

"THERE! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? HAVE YOU ACHIEVED YOUR GOAL IN LIFE? TO BREAK DOWN KATY AND SEE HER CRY LIKE A LITTLE GIRL? WELL CONGRADULATIONS! WOOPIDIDO FOR YOU! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?" Katy cried

"Katy! That has never been my goal in life! How could you be so blind? I have been trying to patch things up with you from day 1. You just have this image in your mind that every body is trying to break you down and hurt you" I said

Katy sank down to the floor

"That's because that's all my life has ever been! You think your life sucks? You have a Mom! Well…you had a mom. But at least you met your mom before you were 17! You have a sister, you have the most amazing sister. And you have friends who love you more than anything in the world. Do you want to know how much I've been jealous of Bloom and her gang? Taylor never treated me like that. Not once!" Katy cried, putting her head into her legs

I sank down next to her, the 2 of us leaning up against the door.

"Did you ever think that we'd ever be here?" I asked

"Not once. When they said they had found my mother, I never expected this" Katy said as more tears falling down

"I never hated you Flora" Katy said

I looked at her

"I was jealous of you" Katy whispered, her voice cracking

"Oh, now I'm gonna cry" I said as we both choked out a laugh

"This is going to be tough" Katy said

"It's going to be rough at school" I said

Katy nodded

I brought my knees up.

"We'll get through it though" I said

Then, something weird happened.

Katy took my hand

"Together" She said

I looked at her and smiled.

"Together" I repeated

**So tell me what you think. Next is our…*tear-tear* last chapter! I'm so sad! Anyways, I'll update my other stories will be updated tomorrow!**


	22. The Final Ending

**Hey my loyal readers. This is a very tragic point in my life…this story is over. I'm so upset because it was my favorite story I ever wrote, and I had so many people that reviewed and told me such encouraging things! I just want to thank everyone who ever reviewed. You guys are the only reason I can write and feel good about it. Especially those people that told me I should actually be an author and publish this story. Thanks you guys! **

**Author's note: Helia knows the girls know that he lives there. They knew after the search party in the last chapter. I wasn't so clear on that, so I was just making sure you knew.**

**Chapter 21: The Final Ending**

It's been 2 weeks since I got used to Katy living in my house. We shared a room, which made things a little more awkward. Katy barely talks, and when she does it's usually very quiet. In school, we never talk to each other. We'll look each other in the eye, then quickly look away. Katy still hung out with the cheerleaders, but she never really said much. She just sat quietly gong along with whatever they did.

Everybody knew we were living together now, and I knew people were talking about us behind our backs. In fact, yesterday I heard some girls talking in the girl's locker room.

"Yeah, did you hear. Katy and Flora Linphea are living together now. I heard Flora's dad had an affair with some slut of a mom and Katy was all a mistake" I heard a girl say

It made me so upset because these people are just talking, and talking…yet they don't even know what the real story is! Layla told me I shouldn't listen to any of them, because they were all just a bunch of jerks, but can I help it? They're practically calling my family a mistake!

!

I heard the bell, which meant that last period was over.

"Come on Flora, let's go find the girls and then maybe we can do something" Bloom said as Bloom, Stella, and I got up and left the classroom.

"No way, finals are coming up. The only thing we should be doing is studying" I said

"Oh come on Flora, we've been studying for a full week already" Stella said

"I know. You know, I haven't slept at my house once this week?" I said

It was true. The girls and I decided to make this sort of study group. Every night we go over to Stella's house and we study. When I say study I mean some serious studying is going on. We all end up crashing in Stella's room.

"Me either" Bloom said

"Well I propose we do something tonight!" Stella said

"It's a school night Stella" I said with a laugh

"Who cares! We're young! We're free! We've got a car! Ooooo! Let's go on a road trip!" Stella said

Bloom and I started laughing

We saw Musa, Layla, and Tecna coming toward us.

"What's that I hear about us going on a road trip?" Layla asked, a smile on her face

We all started laughing

"We're not going on a road trip" Bloom said

"Darn, and here I was thinking about how much luggage I"ll need" Stella said with a pout

"Okay girlies, I'll tell you what. If we study, 1 last time tonight, then we can all do something tomorrow" I said

"On a Friday night? Sounds perfect! We can stay out as late as we want" Tecna said happily

"And we can invite the boys! We can go on a group date" Musa suggested

"Okay Muse, I can find 2 things wrong with that. 1…I don't have a boyfriend. And 2, isn't tomorrow their big championship game?" I asked

"That's right! How could we have forgotten about that?" Bloom asked

"Well we can't miss their big game. It's important to them" Layla said

"That's true. I'm sorry Flora, but our night of fun is going to have to wait" Stella said

I smiled

"It's alright" I said

"Why don't you come with us?" Tecna asked

"It's okay, I'm not really so into the whole sports thing" I said

"Well your into the whole Helia thing, right?" Stella asked with a wink

We all laughed

"Stella!" I said

"Oh come on. Bare with me now. Helia, running up and down the field. Sweaty, hot, decided hmmmmm it sure is hot out here, better take of my shirt. And BOOM! We win the big game, he runs up to you and you start making out, the end!" Stella said

We were all laughing so hard by then.

I wiped away a tear.

"Okay Stella, you just basically replayed the last scene of the movie A Cinderella Story" Bloom said

I nodded

"But it could happen! Helia's the quarterback! Isn't it like tradition or something? The quarterback of the team goes and kisses his girl when they win the big game?" Stella asked

"Well considering I'm not Helia's girl, I think we're safe to say that's not going to happen" I said with a laugh

"What was that about Helia's girl?" A familiar manly voice said from behind me.

I froze.

I turned around and saw the source of the voice.

Helia.

I started to blush.

Helia came by us with the rest of the guys. They were all wearing their jersey's, yet another tradition we have at this school. Always, the day before the big game, the players wear their uniforms around school.

"Nothing. We were just saying that usually after the game the quarterback goes out and kisses his girl. And we were wondering what you'll do considering you don't have one" Stella said

Thank you Stella! Now that was a good save.

"Nothing, Brandon can go out and kiss you instead if that makes you happy" Helia said

We all laughed

"That'll make me happy" Brandon said raising his hand

We all laughed again.

"Can't wait to see you crush those East High wimps" Layla said fiercely

"Damn girl, you're really into sports" Riven said

Layla smiled.

"That's how I like em. I don't like wimpy girls that don't dare touch a ball" Nabu said

"Well then, you're safe with Layla" I said with a smile

"So are you all coming?" Sky asked

"All of us except Flora" Musa said

"Why aren't you coming? Don't you wanna see us pound those losers?" Brandon asked

I laughed

"Of course I would just LOVE to watch you guys jump on some other guys while trying to get the ball, but I can't. I have to study" I said

"Oh come on Flora. We just said tomorrow is our day off" Stella moaned

"Well, if I don't get a good grade on all my finals, then I won't get a scholarship. And if I don't get a scholarship, that's bye bye college for me" I said

"Why?" Bloom asked

We all started to walk out toward the cars

"Because. My Dad isn't making much with his job, and I have to pay for Rose's school" I said

"How much could it possibly cost?" Tecna asked

I whispered the number into her ear.

"That's a lot of zeros" Tecna said, her eyes growing wide

"Why does it cost so much to send a 7 year old to school?" Musa asked

"She's in a gifted program" I said

"Curse you smart children school!" Stella screamed

We all laughed

I got into Helia's car with Layla and Nabu. Everybody else went in Sky and Brandon's car.

We dropped Layla and Nabu off at Nabu's house, then Helia and I headed back to our houses.

"Gosh I can't wait to go back home" I said

"I haven't talked to you in our window since Katy got there" Helia said

"I know. Poor Katy is going through some rough times" I said

"She's still not talking to you?" Helia asked

"Well I mean she talks and stuff, but we'd be lucky if we get 2 words out of her. She's so quiet now. She's so…different" I said

"Different bad, or different good?" Helia asked

I thought about it or a second

"Different good. But I just wish she'd reach out to Suzan more" I said

"You know, I can't help but feel she's going through the same thing you did" Helia said

I looked at him and smiled

"You think?" I asked

"Definitely..although I don't think she'll ever give up her hair iron" Helia said

We started laughing.

Helia dropped me off at my house, then drove into his drive-way.

I went inside the house.

"I'm home!" I called

"Flora!" Rose squealed running out of the kitchen

She came at me and immediately hugged me.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in 4 whole days!" She said holding up 4 fingers

"I know sweety. Sorry, but I was studying at Stella's house" I said

"Oh.." She said sadly, looking down

She released from my hug.

Just as she got sad, she got happy again.

"But we can play now, right?" She said hopefully

"I'm sorry Rosey, I really want to, but I have to study" I said

"Study? But you've already studied for like, ever!" Rose whined

"Rose, can I ask you something?" I asked

Rose nodded

I got down on my knees to match her height.

"Do you like your school?" I asked her

She nodded frantically

"Most definitely! All my friends go there, and I have lots of fun! And Ms. Honey teaches us stuff all the time!" Rose said

I smiled

"Good. But listen sweety, if I don't study and I don't do the best I can in school, then I'm not going to be able to go to school like you can" I said

Rose gasped

"Why?" Rose asked

I laughed at her cluelessness.

"Never mind, just forget I said anything. I'm going to go upstairs and study now. My friends are coming over in an hour to study with me. If you want I'll take you over to Jamie's house so you're not bored" I offered

Rose looked down sadly again

"Okay. I guess so" Rose said

"Hey, I thought you liked going to Jamie's house" I said picking her up in my arms

"I do…but I like being with you too…." She said in a soft voice, trailing off

"What was that?" I asked as we left the house

"Nothing" She said

After I dropped Rose off at Jamie's house, and after I talked with Jamie's mother for a bit, the girls had already arrived.

"Come on up girls, we'll study in my room" I told them

They all nodded, lugging up their back packs filled with textbooks.

"What should we start with?" Bloom asked

"How about math. I'm still totally confused" Musa said

I nodded pulling out a math textbook.

"What exactly are you confused on? We can focus mainly on that" I said

"Ummm…hmmm..let's see.." Musa said skimming through the book

"Flora, Suzan wanted me to tell you dinner's rea-" I looked toward the door and Katy came in. As soon as she saw the girls she gasped..as if she was frightened or something.

"Thank you Katy. We'll come down in a few minutes. If you'd like, you can come study with us" I offered with a friendly smile

"Uhhh…n..n..no, I'm good. Thank you" She said, than scurried out.

Once she was gone, Layla got up and shut the door.

"Okay, is she scared of us or something?" Layla asked

"She's not afraid of you..she thinks you guys hate her" I said

"Well…" Musa said

"Musa!" Bloom screamed lightly hitting her

"Well can you blame us? We were all thinking it!" Musa screamed

I sighed

"I know you guys aren't exactly…fond of my new step sister…but she's changed I promise" I said

"I know she's changed, but that doesn't mean we can just forget what she did to us" Stella said

"She called me Technofreak for 6 years until I found these girls. Do you know what that's like? Especially since everyone followed her" Tecna said

"I know Tecna, I know. And I'm positive she's very sorry for it" I said

"And made fun of my hair" Musa said insecurely twirling a strand of her blue hair on her finger

"Please, you guys got it good. She told everyone I had plastic surgery done" Stella said

I looked at her

"But you didn't right?" I asked with a raised eyebrow

"God no!" Stella screamed

"Well she called me gingy since I was 8" Bloom said

"Gingy's not that bad" Layla said, trying to defend Katy

"It is when you're teachers start calling you gingy in class! Seriously, I would raise my hand and they'd be like, yes Gingy?" Bloom said

We all tried to hold back our laughter

"Okay, I'll admit, that ones a little funny…but come on! Gingy?" Bloom screamed

"Come on you guys, it's not like we've ever put out our helping hand to Katy either" Layla said

I nodded

"LAyla's right" I said

They all looked at me

"I think you should call a truce with her" I said

"Well you don't see her coming to us with some peace treaty, do you?" Stella asked

"No…maybe if you guys made the first move" I suggested

"How?" Bloom asked

"I don't know…compliment her" I said

They sighed  
>"We'll try" They moaned as we left our room<p>

That night, they had not made a truce with her. Katy ate her dinner in silence, as the rest of us talked and ate and had fun. Rose was still by Jamie's house, so I hadn't seen her much that night.

After we ate we went back up to study.

"I have to pick up Rose" I stated

"Okay, we'll wait for you" Bloom said

I opened my window.

"Uhhh…Flora, doors that way" Layla said looking at me crazily

"Who uses doors to get to the Knightly's house anymore" I asked with a laugh

They looked at me with a weird expression

"Helia!" I called

Helia's window was closed. He was sitting at his desk writing something..or maybe drawing..I wasn't sure.

I took a paper clip from my desk and threw it at Helia's window. Helia jumped looking up. When he saw me he started laughing at his reaction. Helia shut his notebook then opened his window.

"Hey" He said

"Hey, it's getting late, Rose has to be picked up" I said

Helia nodded, putting the plank of wood across our 2 window sills as a bridge.

"Holy crap, what are you doing?" Tecna asked

The girls surrounded the window

"Oh hey girls, what's up?" Helia asked

"Oh for the love of god…Flora's about to walk across a plank of wood, an unreliable plank of wood, and you ask us "what's up"?" Stella asked

Helia and I began to laugh

"It's totally safe you guys" I said getting on it and walking across. I jumped into Helia's room.

"You guys want to come?" Helia asked

"No thanks, I think we're good over here" Bloom said

I smiled, leaving Helia's room and going down to Jamie's room.

I knocked on the door lightly then walked in.

"Hi Flora" Jamie said looking up from her coloring book and giving me a smile

"Hi sweety" I said

Rose looked up from her coloring book to with a smile.

"It's time to go already?" She asked

I nodded

"Come on, we're gonna take the window" I said

Rose jumped up happily

"Yay!" She said

Jamie and Rose and I went back up to Helia's room, then toward the window.

"Bye Helia" Rose said waving goodbye

Helia lifted her up onto the plank of wood.

"Bye" he said

Rose put her arms out to balance herself, then walked across

Bloom caught her putting her down on the floor.

Suddenly, Rose shut the window!

"Rose!" I called, confused

I couldn't hear much, but I definitely heard giggling. Rose led the girls to the side.

I could only hear Stella faintly.

"Why don't we give them a moment of privacy" I heard her say

Now I get what they're doing. Urrrgggggggg…..

Helia laughed

"You know, there's always the option of the front door" Helia said

I smiled

"Rose is quite the mischievous one" I said

Helia walked me down, then walked with me across the grass toward my front door.

"Well I guess this is goodnight. Gotta go up and kill a certain little girl" I said

Helia laughed

"I gotta go to. I have to go practice some more" Helia said

"Oh by the way, good luck tomorrow" I said

"Thanks" Helia said

"You better call me afterward and tell me you've won" I said

"Or lost" Helia said

"I'm sure you'll win" I said

"You know, I don't think you've ever come to watch us play before" Helia said

"This is true" I said

"You don't like sports?" Helia asked

"No, I'm afraid that if I come I might make a fool of myself in the stands cheering for you and the other boys too much" I said

Helia laughed

"Why don't you come tomorrow" Helia asked

"I don't know…." I said

"What? Does Flora Linphea not believe in school spirit?" Helia asked

"I was a cheerleader before, wasn't I?" I asked

Helia smiled.

"Come to the game. I promise it'll be worth it" Helia said

I hesitated

"I'll buy you ice cream" Helia offered humorously

"That does it! I'm coming!" I screamed making us both laugh

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. The game starts right after school, so after last period come out to the bleachers" Helia said

"Okay. And hey, I'll get to see Katy cheer" I said

Helia smiled, then turned to go.

"Goodnight" he called

"Goodnight" I called back waving.

I went into my house, only to find Rose, my friends, Suzan, and even Katy listening in to our conversation!

"You guys!" I screamed

They all started laughing, and even Katy managed to crack a smile.

"Flora, you're such a flirt" Suzan said

"A flirt? That was just a friendly conversation!" I replied

"A friendly conversation my but" Stella said

"Oh Helia, I don't know if I can come to your gammeeee" Bloom taunted in a high pitched voice

"I don't sound like Barbie!" I screamed

"Oh Helia, I'll come if you buy me ice cream after you winnnn" Musa taunted

"I'd like my ice cream topped with a taste of your lips Heliaaaaa" Rose taunted

"Okay I never said that" I said

"But you implied it" Layla sang

The girls ended up leaving at 10. Katy stayed out of our room the whole night until the girls left. She seemed uncomfortable around them, which is bad because they're a big part of my life, and now Katy was a big part of my life too.

The next morning I woke up, changed, then went down to the breakfast table.

"Morning Flora. I was wondering if today you could take me to the park" Rose asked as I sat down to eat breakfast

"Sorry Rose, I can't. I have 5 days until finals. I have a jam packed schedule" I said

I felt terrible that I had to let her down like that.

"It's okay.." She said sadly looking down at her soggy cereal.

My phone buzzed.

"I have to go, Brandon's outside to pick me up" I said quickly grabbing my bag and running toward the door.

"Bye Flo-" Rose called but was cut off by the door closing

Rose sighed looking down, then at Katy who sat silently nibbling on a piece of toast.

"What about you? Can you take me to the park?" Rose asked

"Sorry Rose, I have cheerleading" Katy said apologetically

"It's okay, at least you can sit and talk to me" Rose said

Suddenly the front door opened again. I ran into the kitchen. Rose's eyes lit up with hope.

"Rose, I almost forgot! Mrs. Knightly is going to take you to school, come on" I said

Rose's face sunk again, but I was in such a hurry I didn't even notice.

"Katy, you want a ride?" I asked as we got to the door

"No thanks, I think I'll walk" Katy replied with a smile

"You sure?" I asked

Katy nodded

"Okay, I'll see you at school" I said

I took Rose's hand and quickly ran next door.

"Flora, Jamie has a dentist appointment after school today, so I don't think I'll be able to pick up Rose" Mrs. Knightly said

"It's alright, I'll just pick her up then" I said

"Okay, I'll see you later" Mrs. Knightly said.

Rose got in the car, then I ran and got into the car with Brandon, Stella, Musa, Nabu, and Tecna.

When we got to school, everything was covered in our school's colors, blue and gold. Everywhere you looked there was a "Go Kobras" sign. Everywhere you turned there were people with poppers, that when you pulled a string it exploded with blue and gold confetti.

During every single period, everyone talked about it. During gym, everybody crowded around our guys and wished them good luck...especially Helia. Girls crowded him everywhere he went…but I'm not jealous!

Bloom, Stella, and I sat in last period together.

"I cant wait for the game! We got this one in the bag!" Stella whispered

"Oh yeah, Sky and the other boys are gonna make East High wish they never stepped foot on our grounds" Bloom said

We all laughed

"I can't believe I'm actually going!" I said happily

"Girls!" Ms. Grizelda screamed at us from the front of the room

"Sorry Ms. Grizelda" We chorused

"I know you're all excited for the game tonight, I too am excited. I'm sure that Helia will lead us to a very exciting victory tonight. If we win, it'll be the first win we've had in 12 years" Ms. Grizelda said

Everyone started murmuring about it.

"However!" Grizelda screamed, hushing us

"That does not absolve you from your learning" Ms. Grizelda finished

During class, everyone was watching the clock closely. I was probably the only one still taking notes.

I took a glance back at Helia. Helia was taking notes too….

How does he do it? How is he not freaking out right now? I he looses the game for us, he'll think it's his fault.

!

"Go Kobras!" Everyone screamed scurrying out of the room, trying to get to the bleachers fast so they could get a good seat.

I looked around for Helia again to wish him good luck, but he'd been pulled out by some of his.."fans"

"The only thing I hate about my boyfriend being on the football team is the fact that everyone wants his attention on game day, and I can never find him through this crowd" Stella said as we pushed our way through the halls.

"Yeah, seriously!" Bloom said as she was practically pushed down by a girl running through the hallway.

"Jeez, everyone sure is hyped about this game" I said

"Yeah, because if we win we'll get to finally claim victorious over East High, our rival team" Bloom explained

"We've never beat them before?" I asked

"Nope. But this year, Helia's quarterback, and I think he'll be able to do it" Stella said with a nod

I nodded

"You guys!" I heard a familiar voice calling

We looked around trying to find the source of the voice

"You guys!" We heard again

Then we saw the person jumping up and down and waving their arms.

"It's Musa, she's over there" Bloom said pointing to the small blue haired girl jumping up and down frantically, trying to catch our attention

We squeezed through the crowd, getting near them.

"Hey" Layla said when we finally reached them

"Hey, Brandon said we can put our stuff in his car, then come back for them later" Stella said holding up Brandon's car keys

We got out to the parking lot, walking toward Brandon's car. Stella unlocked the trunk, so we threw all of our stuff in.

"Now hurry up you guys, we have to get there before all the seats fill up" Layla said

We all ran toward the large field outside. Practically the whole student body was there. Everyone had blue and gold clothing on, and signs cheering on the players. I saw Katy and the other cheerleaders, dancing around with their pompoms. Katy looked so happy.

I smiled and waved lightly. She smiled back then did a cartwheel and waved at me. I clapped for her, cupping my mouth and cheering.

"Let's go say good luck to the guys" Stella said dragging us over to the locker rooms.

"Ummm Stell, I'm not sure we're allowed to go in there" I said

"Please Flora, we're the girlfriends, we're practically royalty" Stella said

I laughed as they pulled me in their.

The players were all sitting a bench inside, listening to Helia. Helia was giving a speech about how if they all worked together they could win. He was showing them a play by play of their game plan.

"Guys, listen up. Do you want to know why East High has beaten us these past 12 years. It's because they work together. It's not, hey look at that quarterback, he's the best one on the team. No, it's hey look at those guys, they sure are a good football team. Pronunciations on team. We have to pass, block, defend, and most of all score some points. Today is our day men. Today is the day we break the curse of East High. Today is the day we'll remember in 20 years when we're telling our children about how we won the big championship game. This is the day where all of our hard work finally pays off" Helia said

Wow, no wonder he's the quarterback.

"So come, hands in men" Helia said putting his hand out

Everyone stacked their hands on top.

"On 3. 1, 2, 3.."

"KOBRAS!" They all screamed together

The 6 of us started clapping, making them notice us.

"Hey, our personal cheerleaders are here wishing us luck" Riven said, a smirk on his face

"Oh shut up" Musa said, lightly hitting his shoulder

"How about a good luck kiss?" Stella said

Brandon lifted her up

"Don't mind if I do" He said before they started to kiss passionately

"Sky, I know you can do it!" Bloom said happily placing a kiss on his lips.

"Good luck out there Timmy. Try not to get to banged up" Tecna said

Timmy laughed

"I promise" Timmy said

Layla took some of their face paint and put some under her eyes.

"Wooooo! Let's do this thing!" She screamed punching the air

Nabu laughed

"I want you to go out there, tackle some dudes, and bring us back that trophy!" Layla said hugging Nabu

"It'll all be for you" Nabu said

Layla kissed him lightly on the lips then smiled

I went over to Helia.

"That was a nice speech you said" I said

"Didn't know you guys were listening" Helia said

I smiled

"Try not to kill yourself out there" I said

"I'll try my best" Helia said with a laugh

"So are you nervous?" I asked

"A little. It's supposed to rain, but I'm praying it doesn't" He replied

"If it rains, won't they cancel it?" I asked

"Nope. It's play, rain or shine" He replied

I could tell he was a little shaky still.

I took his hand

"We all believe in you Helia" I said

"Yeah! We know you can do it!" Everyone replied

Helia smiled at me, then released his hand. He put his hand up in the air

"Alright guys, it's time to get out there and show those East High assholes how it's done!" Helia screamed

"YEAAHHHH!" We all screamed

The girls and I passed around the face paint and put some under our eyes

We all wore the Cobra jerseys over our clothes. We looked so spirity…if that's a word.

"Go kick some ass!" Layla said giving Nabu one last kiss

The guys left the locker room, then went out onto the field making the crowd erupt in cheers.

The cheerleaders started to cheer, jumping, and doing all sorts of moves.

"Cobras can win, let's kick em in the shin! We'll dominate this game, and cause those East High's pain!" The Cheerleaders sang

"Ummm..that's kind of a disturbing cheer" I said with a laugh

"Well it's true" Bloom sang

The 6 of us took our seats. Because we wasted time in the locker room, we had to sit on the top row, farthest from the bleachers.

"Wooooo!" We all cheered, though you could barely hear us from the top.

The ref got on the field, as the 2 teams made their way to the center. As the players made their way to the center, Helia turned for a split second..and waved..at me.

I wasn't totally positive he waved at me though. Girls from the front row started squealing.

"He waved at me!" They all squealed

I didn't know if I should wave back or not. Helia waved again.

"Flo! He's waving at you! Wave back!" Layla said hitting me lightly

I smiled then waved at him

He smiled then joined the other players along the center line.

Suddenly, everyone went silent.

"32! 24! Break!" I heard Helia yell

He threw the ball between his legs, and suddenly everyone erupted in cheers.

"Yeah! Go! Go!" Layla cheered

As Sky made his way down the field, he was tackled down by an East High player.

"Oh that guy is gonna pay!" Bloom seethed

Helia quickly recovered the ball, running down the field. As the other quarterback tried to tackle him, he quickly tumbled, getting it into the point zone.

"YEAH! HELIA!" I screamed on the top of my lungs, jumping up and down.

The girls started laughing at me.

"What? I can get into it" I said

They laughed again at my reaction

"Wow, I just totally felt like Rose.." I said, but suddenly I froze.

"Flora? What's wrong?" Layla asked

"Rose.." I whispered

The 6 girls looked at me with concerned looks.

"Rose" I repeated a bit louder

"What about Rose?" Tecna asked

"Rose!" I screamed, my eyes growing wide

I quickly got up, scurrying down the bleachers.

"Excuse me" I said frantically, trying to weave myself between the people.

"Flora?" The girls called confused

Rose! I forgot about Rose!

I quickly began to run as I neared the ground.

Katy looked my way, pausing her cheering. She tilted her head, confused.

I began to run out toward the parking lot. I forgot Rose! I can't believe I did this!

Before I could get to the parking, some tough guys came off the bleachers, smug looks on their faces.

"Hey, where you going beautiful? Don't you want to stay?" They asked, evil smirks

"Excuse me, I have to go!" I said trying to get passed them, but failed.

"I know you! You're Flora Linphea! The chick with the messed up Dad and slut for a mom!" One of the guys said

Suddenly, I felt scared

"Do me a favor, ask your mom if she'd like to have some fun with me" 1 guy said, a creepy look on his face.

"Please, I have to go" I pleaded, trying to break through

"Why? Why don't you come sit with us?" A guy asked

They started to get a little to close for comfort.

"Alright, you have 5 second to get the hell away from my sister before I go all peppy on you"

I turned around and saw Katy in her cheerleading uniform, hands on her hips.

The guys started laughing.

Katy walked toward them, and stuck her sharp nail into his arm, making him cringe.

"5, 4, 3, 2-"

"Okay! Okay! Damn girl!" The guys said, returning to the field

"That's right! Never mess with an angry cheerleader!" Katy screamed after them.

I turned to her and smiled.

"Thanks" I said

"Thank me later! Go get Rose! It looks like it's about to rain!" Katy said with urgency in her voice.

I started to walk, but turned around, ran to her, and hugged her.

"Thank you" I repeated

Katy laughed, hugging me back

"Now go!" She said pushing me forward

I started to run, hearing the sound of thunder in the sky. Oh Rose! I'm so sorry!

Katy POV:

I was cheering as I never had before in my life. It was so exciting!

"Go Cobras Go! Go Cobras Go!" We screamed

I looked up at the stands and saw Flora and her friends. Suddenly, Flora got up and began to run down the bleachers.

I tilted my head confused.

What's going on?

As she started to run, some creepy senior boys started to walk after her. That does NOT look good!

I ran off the field running toward them.

As I neared them, I saw them like totally harassing Flora!

"Alright, you guys have 5 seconds to get the hell away from my sister before I go all peppy on you" I said, hands on my hips.

I could tell Flora was relieved to see me there.

They started laughing at me! What? They don't believe a cheerleader could hurt them?

I walked up to 1 and dug my nail into their flesh.

"5, 4, 3, 2-" I began but they ended up running away like a bunch of girls!

"That's right! Never mess with an angry cheerleader!" I called after them

That felt good.

Flora…Flora hugged me. It felt good..it made me feel..like I had a sister!

Flora ran off frantically, and I turned around and saw the Winx girls standing there. They had seen what had just went on.

Suddenly, my confidence drained as I looked them back and forth.

There was an awkward silence.

"That was…that was really nice of you to do" Musa said breaking the silence

My head shot up. Did..did she just call me nice?

"Thanks" I said in a soft voice

I looked up at them and they all had smiles playing at their lips.

"You know what Katy? I like your shoes" Stella stated

I smiled then laughed

"Thank you. I like yours to. Where'd you get them from? Wait…Macy's?" I guessed

Stella nodded

"Exactly!" Stella squealed

The 5 girls came up to me and we started walking in a line, at the same pace

"You know, you have good taste. You should come shopping with us some time" Layla said

I smiled

"Okay, that sounds..nice" I said

Is this really happening?

Suddenly, Helia went running passed us, in the same direction Flora had gone.

"Helia?" We all turned around and watched as he ran

"But if Helia's here..then who's playing?" Musa asked

We all looked at each other, then we began running toward the field

Helia's POV:

This is it! The moment of truth! As I sprinted across the football field, dodging all the attacks I made my way to the in zone. I through that ball down so hard, scoring us points! That felt great!

The whole crowd was cheering for me, but I only had eyes for 1 person.

I looked up to the top row and saw her. Jumping, screaming, smiling, laughing, and…..leaving?

Flora was going down the bleachers, toward the parking lot. Then I saw Katy get up and go. Then I saw the Winx following after.

What was going on?

I sat there on the floor, looking in 1 direction, and 1 direction only. Toward the exit.

"Helia? What's going on? Get up!" Coach screamed from the side lines

I took off my helmet, then began to run toward the exit.

"Helia! Helia? Get back here!" Coach screamed on the top of his lungs

Everyone was confused as to where I was going.

I handed Coach my helmet.

"Put Nabu in, he knows what he's doing" I told him

"HELIA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Coach yelled as I started to run toward the exit

There was nothing stopping me now. Something was wrong, something was definitely wrong. I had to figure out what it was, because I would do anything, anything in the world, to make sure that Flora was okay.

Flora's POV:

It was starting to drizzle as I ran, but soon enough drizzle became rain, and rain became pouring rain.

I ran toward Rose's school, my whole body soaking wet. When I got there I looked left and right, until I saw a small, shivering figure sitting on the top step of the front of the school, a little hello-kitty backpack strapped to her. I sighed running over to her.

"Rose, I'm so sorry! Sweety, I didn't mean to. Come here" I said trying to wrap her in my arms

She pushed me off not letting me touch her.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to talk to strangers" Rose said, not looking me in the eyes. Her beautiful blue eyes were read and puffy, and I could tell she'd been crying.

"A stranger? What are you talking about Rose? I'm your sister" I said

"No you're not. Because I know that my sister Flora would never forget about me. I know that my sister Flora would never ignore me. I know that my sister Flora would never ditch me because she'd rather spend her time with her friends. And I know my sister Flora would never leave me out in the rain" Rose said, her voice cracking

She took her already wet sleeve and used it to wipe her eyes.

"Oh Rose" I sighed sitting next to her

I tried to put my arm around her, but she pushed me away again

"Where's Ms. Honey?" I asked

"She didn't notice me sitting here. She left an hour ago" Rose said in a soft voice

I looked down at her, feeling terrible.

"I never meant for you to think I was ignoring you. Now come on, let's go home. You're going to catch a cold" I said  
>"No! I'm not leaving until my sister comes and picks me up…like she promised she would" Rose said, crying<p>

"Rose, look at me" I said getting in front of her and leveling myself with her

She refused to even look me in the eye. It took all my will power not to just break down and cry, right there in front of her.

"Rose, look at me" I said

"No!" She cried

"Rosalinda Linphea, look at me!" I said

Rose cried, then looked me in the eye.

"I would NEVER do that to you. You are the most important person in the world to me, and nothing will EVER change that" I said

"Then why did you forget about me?" She cried

"It was an accident" I said

"Well you never spend any time with me anymore! You're always with the girls, or the guys, or you're talking to Helia! And…and..and…" She cried

"And what?" I asked her softly stroking her cheek

"And I'm starting to think you like them better than me!" She cried, suddenly jumping into my arms

I wrapped her shivering body in my arms, rubbing her back soothingly.

"Rose, don't you ever, ever think that. My friends are very important to me, but you are my most precious jewel" I said

She sobbed harder

"I..I..I..want.." She sniffled  
>"What do you want?" I asked her<p>

"I want Mommy!" She cried

I froze

"Suzan's at home" I told her, hoping she'd take it as an answer

"No! I want Mommy!" She cried

It's time. It's time for me to tell her. I can't lie to her anymore.

"Rose my baby, there's something we have to talk about" I said

"I already know!" She cried

My eyes grew wide

"What?" I asked

"I know that Mommy's not with us anymore. I knew the whole time" Rose cried, sniffling

"Wait but you-"

"I pretended not to know, because if I told you that I knew you might talk about it more! I want Mommy back Flora!" Rose cried

That just broke my heart.

I felt tears start to well up in my eyes

"I know you do Rose. I know. I want her back to, but no matter what we do, we can't change that" I said

Rose screamed burying her head into my shoulder

"It's not fair!" She cried

That's when I started crying

"I know it's not fair, and I want her back just as much as you do" I said sniffling

I stroked her sopping wet hair.

"But we have a new family now. I know Suzan is not what you want, but she loves you, and me, and Katy. And Daddy loves you too. There's so much love surrounding us Rose, and you know what? Mommy is sending you love from the heavens" I told her

"But it's not the same!" She cried

"I know. I know" I soothed, rubbing her back

"Look at me Rose" I said

She lifted her head up, and I tilted her chin so it angled with mine perfectly

"You and I have gone through rough times, but look where we are now" I said

"Crying in the rain?" She asked as more tears trailed down her tiny face

"No, together. Let me tell you something Rosalinda Linphea. I will never EVER leave you. You are the most important thing in the world to me, and you will ALWAYS be" I said

"More than Helia?" She asked

I laughed

"Let me tell you something Rose. I'm sitting with you here in the rain, when I could be at a football game getting kissed by Helia" I said

Rose giggled

"Can we go home now?" She whispered into my chest

"Of course we can go home" I said

I picked her up in my arms, her head still on my shoulder. When I turned around I saw the most mesmerizing thing I've ever seen.

"Need a ride?"

Helia stood there, an umbrella in his hands.

I smiled, wiping away the last of my tears.

Helia put the umbrella over Rose and I, making the rain halt.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be winning the game?" I asked

"Ehh, I'd rather be here with you" He said

I smiled as he opened up the passenger seat for me.

I stepped in, closing the door behind me.

My wet body soaked the seat completely. Rose sat in my lap, her head still buried in my chest as she cried.

Helia got in, then turned the heat up.

"Seems I'm always in this car crying" I said

Helia laughed

"Seems I'm always rescuing you from the rain" He replied

I smiled as the car got silent. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was a comfortable silence.

"Shhhh" I soothed Rose, stroking her hair. My fingers went through her thick curls, pulling them back.

Helia looked down at me. I looked up, and he put his eyes on the road again.

I don't know why, but this gave me butterflies.

Helia stopped in front of my house, then we all got out. Helia walked us to the door with an umbrella.

"Go quick and try to make it for the last quarter" I told Helia

"Come with me" He offered

"I can't. I'm staying with Rose tonight" I said

Helia nodded

"Want me to stay?" Helia asked

I smiled

"Go win us that trophy" I said

Helia smiled, then ran to his car.

I went in the house, and nobody was home. Suzan and my Dad were still at work, and would be returning soon.

I took Rose upstairs and we both changed into sweat pants and long sleeved shirts.

We sat together on my bed snuggling together under the covers. Rose sat in my lap, the covers covering her fully except for her face. Her eyes were beginning to get droopy and tired from all of her crying.

Rose sneezed, then wiped her nose.

"I'm thinking somebody caught a cold" I said

Rose giggled

"Flora?" She asked

"Yes?"

"Do you think you and Helia will ever get together?" She asked

"I don't know about that. I'm not sure if Helia feels the same way about me as I feel about him" I said

"Flora?" She asked

"Yes?"

"Do you love Helia?" Rose asked

There was a long silence as I thought it over.

"Yes, I think I do" I said

There was no answer.

I looked down at her face and saw her eyes were shut. She'd fallen asleep.

I smiled at her adorable face.

Today was probably a lot for her.

I lightly moved her off my lap, and onto my bed. I got out of the bed, wrapping 2 layers of blankets around her. She was freezing cold.

I went downstairs and went into the kitchen. I took out an instant soup and put it in the microwave, heating it up. I sat at the counter eating my soup, just thinking.

I can't believe how stupid I was. How could I have forgotten Rose! My god, I'm such an idiot! But then Helia came…and..

My phone started ringing next to me, so I picked it up and pressed send.

"Hel-"

All I could hear in the background was screaming. Lots and lots of screaming.

"Flora! We won! WE WON!" I heard Layla scream

"Oh my gosh! That's great!" I said happily

"IT WAS AMAZING! So after Helia left, Nabu stepped in as quarterback. East High was starting to catch up to us, and then they took the lead. By then, there was 6 minutes left and we were 4 points down. We all thought we were done for when suddenly..BOOM! Helia shows up and he totally killed it out there! We won Flora! We won!" Layla screamed

I laughed

"That's great" I said

I could hear cheering in the background.

"Yeah! We're going out for a celebration dinner, want to come?" Layla asked

I hesitated

"I'm sorry Layla, I can't. Something just happened and-I just have to be with Rose tonight" I said

"Are you sure?" Layla asked

"Yes I'm sure" I said

"But it won't be the same without you" Layla said

I smiled

"Don't worry about it Layla. I've had just about enough excitement for 1 night" I said with a laugh

"Okay. We all wish you could be here" Layla said

I laughed

"Thanks" I said

"Oh and Katy wants to know if Rose is alright" Layla said

"Yes, Rose is definitely okay but we…wait you're with Katy?" I asked, a sudden realization coming to me

"Yeah. We totally made up with her" Layla said

I smiled

"That's great!" I said

"I know. It's like everything in the passed is totally erased" Layla said

"That's great. Well, I hope you have a great time. Tell the boys I said congratulations and I love them, and tell Helia I said he owes me ice cream" I said

Layla laughed

"Bye Flo" She said

"Bye" I said hanging up.

I sat down eating my soup.

That's really awesome that they won, too bad I had to miss it. I wonder who Helia kissed.

After I finished eating I went into the living room with a book. Just as I was about to open it, the doorbell rang.

I checked my watch. It was too early for Dad and Suzan to be home already. Who could it be.

I went to the door.

"Who is it?" I asked

"Pizza delivery man" A deep voice said at the other side

I opened the door confused.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't order any pizz….you guys!" I screamed

Before me stood the Winx, the boys, and Katy.

"Pizza!" Brandon screamed running through the door with Nabu holding 4 boxes of piping hot pizza.

I smiled laughing.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked hugging Layla

"Celebrating!" Riven screamed opening up a few beer bottles

That's when I saw him. He was wet, and covered in mud.

I ran at him, jumping into his arms

"You did it!" I screamed

Helia spun me around

"It was close, but our man Helia really pulled us through!" Nabu said high fiving Helia

I laughed

"I'm just going up to check on Rose" Katy said

"She's sleeping" I told her

"But she's okay, right?" Katy asked

I nodded smiling

"Yes" I said

I love that she cares about Rose so much!

Brandon and Nabu put the pizza on the table, setting out plates.

The guys all grabbed some beers, and we all partied with pizza and drinks and well…it was an awesome night.

Just as we were about to play truth or dare, Rose came down the stairs rubbing her eyes.

"What's going on?" She asked looking around

Then she saw all the people. Oh no, she's going to think I like them bet…

"Party!" She screamed suddenly jumping up and joining our circle

She sat on Layla's lap, happily playing along.

Everything was just..perfect.

After everyone left, it left Katy, Rose and I in the empty house.

"That was fun" Katy said

I nodded

"Totally" I said

"Hey Katy, wanna come play a game?" Rose asked her

Katy smiled

"Okay" She said with a laugh

Katy and Rose went up to Rose's room.

"You do realize "game" means her trying to set you up with a guy right?" I called up the stairs

The 2 laughed, shutting the door behind me.

I went into my room, sitting down at my desk.

Today was just…insane. I still feel pretty terrible about leaving Rose. I will never forget her crying face when she said, "I want Mommy!"

God, that one really hit me in the heart.

I sighed, suddenly feeling upset again.

I went toward my window, but instead of talking to Helia, I climbed out and lifted myself onto my roof.

I sat down on the edge, hugging my legs.

I'm such a horrible person. Rose is so important to me, and I left her sitting out in the rain for 1 and a half hours.

I shut my eyes, trying to block out the pain, hitting my head against my knees.

"Flora?"

I looked down and saw Helia, looking at me from his window.

He'd showered all the mud off, and changed into jeans and a button up shirt.

I didn't answer, because I knew that if I answered my voice would probably crack. Man, these past few weeks have made me such a wimp!

"Flora?" He asked again

"I'm a horrible person" I said shaking my head

"Excuse me?" Helia said climbing up onto the tree and leaning up against it's bark

"I'm a horrible person!" I said louder

Helia laughed

"You're not a horrible person" Helia said

"I left my 7 year old sister out in the rain" I said

"By accident" Helia said

"But it should have never happened" I said hitting my forehead

There was a long silence.

I looked up at him.

"So how does it feel?" I asked him

"What?" he asked

"To be the school hero" I said, a smile playing at my lips

"Oh, that, yeah it's okay" Helia said with a shrug

"Okay?" I ask with a laugh of disbelief

"It's no big deal" He said with a shrug

I arched my eyebrows

"Whatever you say quarterback" I said

Helia smiled

"So after you won, who'd you kiss?" I asked, keeping my eyes locked on a single flower that was on the ground

If I looked at him, he might think I care. But I do care! I kind of want to know.

"Nobody"

I looked up at his face

"Nobody?" I repeated

"Yup" He said emotionlessly

"But tradition-"

"Tradition doesn't mean kiss someone you don't love" Helia said

I looked at him

"So you don't love anybody?" I asked

"No, I love somebody" He said

"But you just said-"

"The reason I didn't kiss anybody is because the girl that I love wasn't there to be kissed" Helia said

My head snapped up.

Suddenly, his eyes locked with mine. I wanted to move, but I couldn't.

"Her eyes a forest green, her hair a golden blond, her lips pink and alluring, her heart I am so fond" He stated jumping off the tree and onto my roof

I know these words.

"But who is this girl? This girl I love so? Who is this girl? I need to know" Helia recited

That's when it hit me. The poem.

"I do know this girl, her personality stands strong. It's the same girl, that I've loved for so long" Helia said slowly walking toward me

"Her eyes a forest green" He said taking my hands.

"I love her beautiful aura" He recited

I was unable to even move by then. I was frozen still.

"Her hair a golden blonde" He said pushing back blonde bangs out of my face

"My dear sweet.." He said getting in close

Our lips were a few inches apart

"Flora" He whispered

His voice sent shivers down my back

Before I knew it his lips were on mine. It felt so good. Like a burst of electricity going through me!

Our lips moved together in perfect sink. His hands were around my waist, my hands around his neck. I smiled as we kissed. We separated, our foreheads together.

"You have no idea" He said sending small butterfly kisses up and down my neck, hungry for more

"How long I've waited for this" He said

I smiled.

"I love you" I whispered as he returned to my lips

"I love you too" He whispered back as our eyes locked

"Jamie! Look! I told you!"

Our heads shot down

Out of my bedroom window we saw 2 small heads popping out, watching us.

"Yes! We did it Rose! We actually did it!" Jamie squealed hugging Rose, jumping up and down

Suddenly, another head popped out.

"Katy!" I called laughing

"Sorry, can't help it. Oh my gosh, you guys are so cute together!" She said lifting up Jamie and Rose in her arms so they'd get a better look

Helia and I started laughing

"Are you happy now? You got what you wanted!" Helia called still laughing

"I'm the happiest girl in the world!" Jamie squeaked

We all laughed at her reaction

I looked up at Helia

"I am too" I whispered so only he could hear

Helia smiled then leaned in, our lips touching again.

This, was pure bliss.

**6 years later…**

"Eeeeeeppppp! Jamie! Jonah Freeman just texted me!" 13 year old Rose exclaimed

"Oh my gosh Rose, you're so lucky!" Jamie squealed

I looked into the back of the car

"Girls stop squealing or you'll cause an avalance!" Katy screamed as we all laughed

"But Kate, Jonah Freeman just like, totally texted her!" I said in a high pitched voice, dramatically flipping my hair back

Everyone laughed

"How much longer until we get there?" Katy asked

"About 3 and a half hours" Helia said from the front seat

"3 and a half hours!" Rose and Jamie squealed

"Yeah" Helia said with a laugh

"How can that be possible? We've already driven for…" Rose said checking the clock on her phone

"4 hours" She said

"Oh it's possible, considering Flora makes us stop every 25 miles to pee!" Katy said

I turned back to look at them

"I'm 6 months pregnant! Kill me!" I said to her

"If you're pregnant how are you going to do all of the fun stuff we do on Thanksgiving?" Jamie asked

"I've been doing them for 7 years now, I'm not going to stop because of a pregnancy alright" I said

Everyone laughed

"What if while your ice skating you're water breaks or something?" Katy asked still laughing

"Than I have just scarred any children that are standing on the ice" I replied

Everyone started laughing

"I can't wait to get there. I haven't seen Chelsea and Justin since your wedding 2 years ago" Katy said

"Wow, we've been married for 2 years already?" I asked

"I guess we have" Helia said with a shrug and a laugh

Jamie poked her head into the front

"Wow you guys sure are committed to this relationship" Jamie said sarcastically

"Let me tell you something Jamie. Everytime I look at my beautiful wife, it feels like the first time I met her and fell in love" Helia said

"Awww! Helia, you just melted my heart" I said with a laugh

"Ummm…yeah we're still here you know!" Katy said

We all laughed

Katy's phone buzzed

"Mom and Dad are already there" Katy announced

Everyone moaned

"We'll be here forever!" Rose whined

"Guys…okay don't hate me.." I started

"You have to go to the bathroom again!" They all screamed

"I'm pregnant! Have you people no decency? You don't yell at a pregnant women!" I screamed

"Holy crap, this goes on for another 3 months" Katy said smacking her forehead

"You guys are so mean" I said with a laugh, crossing my arms

"Except me right?" Helia asked with his cute smile  
>"You did this to me!" I screamed pointing at my huge belly<p>

Everyone started laughing

"No, but really I like being pregnant. Or at least having a child. That's what I like" I said

"Me too. I think we'll be good parents" Helia said

"You guys will be the best parents ever! I can see you guys doing all fun stuff! And we'll come over ALL the time!" Rose said

"Well you 3 practically live in our house so…." Helia said

"This is true" Jamie said

"Well could you not? They've got good food, entertainment, and wife/husband banter, how much better can it get?" Rose asked

I laughed

"Is that all we are to you? Food, entertainment, and banter?" I asked, hands on hips

"Yes" Katy said

We all laughed

"I really love you guys" I said smiling

People, are like flowers. When they start out they're beautiful, and full of life, but eventually they die out. Just like that, they're gone. It may be like that for most people, but for me, I got a second chance. A second chance at friendship, personality, and most of all, love. Life gave me a second chance. I didn't deserve it, not one bit, but it did. Now here I am, 23 years old, married for 2 years, pregnant for 6 months. I have 3 sisters. Yes, 3. Rose, Katy, and Jamie. I have loyal friends, loyal unbreakable friends, and I have my lover. Helia is the most amazing thing that ever happened to me. He's taught me so much. Everything happened to me, because of him. I love him with everything I've got. I've come to realize something. I do know why I got my second chance. I got it because fate wanted to see what I'd do with it. Now you think, what would you do if you got a second chance? Would you take it and throw it away, or would you take advantage of your chance. But hey, that's just the choice you have to make. I made my choice, now what's yours?

***tear* *tear* it's over! I'm so sad! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. I made it especially long. Its 21 and a half pages long on Microsoft office, font 12! Tell me what you think. I want to know! Tell me what you liked, what you hated, who your favorite character is, favorite plot, something that made you cry, made you happy, what ever you want! **

**I love you guys so much!**


	23. Big Anouncement!

Hey everyone, I know this is probably coming to a surprise to you guys, another chapter added! Well, I have some big news for you guys. I have been thinking long and hard over the weekend and I have made a big realization: I can't let this story go So then I started to think, well, how did Helia propose? Where did they get married? When? The baby being born? So many questions were left unanswered. So I, Mina, am here to gladly announce that…

THERE WILL BE A SEQUAL!

Ahhhhh! I'm so excited! I hope you guys are excited as I am. I'm pretty sure I know what the main plot will be, so here's a little taste of what to expect:

**Second Chances: 2 Words**

**2 words, just 2 words. So simple, yet full of so much meaning. 1 day, 1 glorious day. So short, yet so memorable. So..magical. Then what? What comes after? Only you can decide what to make of it. But as for now, there's only 1 thing to do. As for now, you must think of the present and know that whatever happens, this promise, this 1 small promise, means everything. **

"**I do"**

Well, I'm really excited to get started. However, I can't post until I post for my other story, The Infinitive 9, so I just kind of wanted to give you guys a little something to think about.

That's all for today you guys!

-Mina


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